The Sheriff and the Detective
by Randompenname101
Summary: When vampire attacks increase in Dallas and the sheriff of area 9 sets out to catch the perpetrator, his path crosses that of a young detective investigating the case...
1. A vampire to catch

The night was a warm one, so much a haze was obscuring the sky, blocking the moon from view and allowing very little light to shine through. It didn't hamper him much though. Vampire eyes were keener than a human's in the dark, and he had had over 2,000 years to train his own. Tonight, however, he was relying more on his other senses.

Vampire attacks on humans had been on the rise in the past couple of weeks – not that they had become _numerous_, the figures were still much lower compared to most areas, especially given the size of the territory he had to cover. But a few attacks were still more than he cared for. Besides, they had been reported to the human police, and he feared that they would be leaked to the press, fanning the fear of the Dallas human population towards his kind.

And so, he had put Isabel on the case. She had identified one and the same scent on the scenes of the attacks, one she didn't know. Of course, she didn't know every vampire in town, and much less their smell, but this tended to point towards a vampire who would have recently entered his area, and either didn't know about Godric's reputation for little tolerance regarding violence towards humans, or _did_ know about it and was deliberately provoking him. Either way, the culprit had to be caught, and he would be punished severely.

The sheriff of area 9 had thought that his second, being the old and capable vampire that she was, would have this solved in no time. However, she hadn't been able to catch the culprit.

She had gone to Dallas' vampire nest and gathering places, inquiring whether anyone had noticed a new vampire in town, a loner who would have violent tendencies towards humans, but nothing had come out of it.

The culprit did not seem to have an established pattern, never striking in the same area, sometimes attacking twice in a night, sometimes not at all for days. He wasn't targeting humans of a single blood type, and sometimes killed his victims, sometimes let them live, in which case he'd glamour them into remembering the fear he had instilled in them but not his description. And there were no witnesses.

That was why Godric had decided to back up his second in the hunt – and had gone as far as putting Stan on the case, something he usually preferred not to do when humans were involved. The impulsive vampire may be competent in handling affairs that remained strictly within the vampire community, but his dislike of humans was too great for the sheriff to entrust him with their protection. But desperate times called for desperate measures.

Tonight the three of them were separately investigating the places where he had last struck. Godric stopped to take a look at his surroundings. He could hear a bunch of people behind him, and the way they talked and laughed indicated a group of drunk men. A hundred yards or so in front of him, he could see a small grocery store, with a sign that read "Open 24/24". He started walking again, deciding to get in and ask if the owner had seen anything out of the ordinary on the night of the attack. It was a very long shot, but he was grasping at straws there, and was starting to lose patience. Something that did not happen very often. When he caught the culprit, the punishment was going to be very severe indeed.

The bunch behind him caught up with him before he could reach the store, and since the sidewalk was rather narrow, he stepped aside to let them walk ahead of him. They didn't pass him by however, instead stopping as they reached his level.

\- "Hey, boy!" One of the men exclaimed. He was a tall, big man, and was wearing a baseball cap over a military haircut. Godric didn't react at being called "boy". In his earliest centuries, any allusion to his youthful appearance would have earned the caller a prompt bite which may or may have not have resulted in his death. Now the old vampire had gotten so used to such references that it didn't even remotely bother him anymore.

\- "Hey, you got a dollar for me and my buddies here? Cause we'd like to grab something to eat a' that grocery shop, but we forgot our money. And you look so proper, we thought we could borrow from you!" He exclaimed brightly as said "buddies" laughed.

At that, Godric refrained from rolling his eyes. _Humans_, he thought. There were only three men, and he could have had them all lying flat on their backs in a second, but this was not an option. He could glamour them, but the corner of his eyes caught a movement to his right, as a girl exited the grocery store and started heading their way. He didn't want any potential witness to his ability, and certainly didn't want to have to glamour the girl as well. Messing with humans' brains wasn't the best thing for them, and he wasn't going to do it to one just for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. So the wise vampire went for the last option: he took out his wallet and handed the man his dollar bills. It wasn't such a great loss to him anyways.

\- "Now here's a good boy" the man flashed a grin, slamming a hand onto Godric's shoulder as if they were old pals, and nodding to his friends to follow him as he made to leave. They couldn't, however: the girl he had spotted before was blocking their way. In one hand, she was carrying a grocery bag slung over her shoulder. Her other hand was sitting on her hip.

\- "Give it back." She called out to the man who was still holding Godric's bills, looking him straight in the eyes.

\- "Give what back?" the big man answered, his smile still on. He was considerably more imposing than the girl, and yet, she didn't budge.

\- "The money you just took from him. Hand it back," she replied levelly without changing her position.

Godric took a closer look at her. She looked Asian, was in her early twenties, and he supposed her face and figure would be considered rather attractive by humans as well as vampires. Centuries ago, she would surely have had his immediate interest. A few decades ago, she might have held his eye. But now women, no matter how beautiful or desirable other men may find them, were nothing more to him than a pleasing sight, like an aesthetic painting. Something that made for a nice decorum, but failed to stir much in him.

This clearly was not the case for the aggressors, however. The big human's grin was now slightly wolfish, and when he answered, his voice sounded deeper than when he had talked to Godric, the drunk edge less pronounced.

\- "Come on, sweetheart. He and us, we made a deal, and agreed that we'd pay him back later. And anyway, he's not your boyfriend is he?"

She didn't answer. The three men exchanged glances. Their leader pocketed Godric's money and took a step forward towards the girl, pulling her to him with one arm.

\- "Let go. And give the money back." She said, without a trace of fear but a hint of irritation.

\- "Or else? You'll call the cops?" He answered in a low, playful tone, and his companions sniggered behind him.

Maybe it was time for Godric to intervene, he mused.

\- "No need. I _am_ the cops", she answered. The girl's hand which had been resting on her hip went to her jacket, pulling a shining officer's badge from an inner pocket.

Maybe it wasn't time, after all.

\- "So let me go and give the money back, or I'm afraid I'll have to use force." She added in a warning tone.

If she thought this would drive them away, she was wrong. The men only laughed, looking more turned on by that prospect than anything else.

\- "Hear that, Joe? Woman are truly scary nowadays, eh?" One of the men told the big one with an expression of mock apprehension.

She raised her eyes to the sky, clearly exasperated with the whole situation, before looking down at the men again.

\- "Well then, you can't complain that I didn't give you a fair warning".

The next thing Godric knew, she had snatched Joe's hand from her waist and was twisting it in a way that sent him to hi knee, a grimace on his face.

He tried to get up but she only applied more pressure on his wrist, causing him to twitch in pain and growl "You bitch… You - fucking - vampire bitch..." as his free hand tried to catch her legs.

Apparently, he had said the wrong thing.

\- "I'm a bit strong, so that makes me a vampire?" She sounded annoyed now, and just as she let go of his hand she stepped behind him to kick the base of his head. He sprawled onto the ground face first, and did not get up. She had knocked him out cold.

Frowning slightly at that, the old vampire looked at her. She still had her grocery bag in one hand, and was now facing the remaining two men.

One of them had drawn a knife from his jacket. He slashed but she dodged easily. Swiftly, she delivered two kicks to the inside of his knee, the first one weakening his standing position, the second one, more powerful, sending him to the floor and causing him to drop the knife, which she kicked away.

The last man lunged at her, but she brought her knee to her chest before extending her leg to meet his attack with a full-blow to his mid-section. Godric heard a crack that suggested a fractured bone. The man doubled over, holding his stomach, and the girl went to pick up the knife with her free hand.

\- "All right, gentlemen, I suggest you remain where you are now" She said with a tiny jerk of her head that pushed her bangs away from her eyes. "Unless you prefer to end up comfy on the ground like your buddy G.I. Joe over there," she added with a nod towards the unconscious big man, her eyes not leaving them.

She waited for a second and although the men were swearing and uttering offensive words through gritted teeth, she seemed quite content that they weren't going to attack her again.

She went over to Joe and took his pulse. Once she had made sure his vitals were fine, she picked up the bills he had taken from Godric and handed them to him, asking if he wished to press charges, which he declined. He had more urgent matters to attend to – but she did not need to know that. The girl turned back to the other two, and asked to see their papers.

\- "OK, here's what we'll do. You two – get G.I. Joe and carry him to a hospital for a check-up. And you, as well" she looked at the last aggressor, who was still pressing a hand to his torso with a rather pained look. "I won't fill in any statement against you three tonight, but I do hope I won't get to see your names pop up again." She said with a warning look.

And with that she turned to Godric once more, and for the first time since she had appeared in front of him a small smile spread on her face as her features softened.

\- "Sorry about that", she said apologetically.

He did not reply, but cocked his head slightly to the side and looked at her without blinking, taking in her short size - no more than 5'2 - and delicate frame.

Knocking out a man in so few moves was no easy task for a human. It usually took many strikes, because the first blows didn't weaken the target enough to prevent them from picking themselves up. It was even more difficult when said target was much taller than you, and twice your weight. And yet, she had just done so with three men in a row, using only one hand and leg. Meaning that not only did she have good technical training, she was also _much_ stronger than her built should allow for.

And throughout all that, her heartbeat had remained perfectly steady. Even now, the old vampire could tell that she wasn't the slightest out of breath. She could have been taking a lazy stroll in a park.

After a short while, his stare seemed to made her uncomfortable. She ran her free hand over the top of her head and said something about having to get back home before walking away from him.

\- "Thank you", he said making her jump slightly. "I am sorry that you had to get caught up in that." He added once she had faced him again. Her smile was back on.

\- "It's my job", she replied. "I'm just glad nobody got harmed." She frowned. "Well, I might have given one of them a fractured rib – but I _did_ give them plenty of opportunities to solve that without a fight." And after a pause: "Plus, they should be able to recover fully."

\- "Indeed." The old vampire agreed quitely, his eyes not leaving hers. "I understand why he might have thought that you were vampire. Although you seemed to dislike being called that" he added, putting just a bit of his glamour behind his words, which usually worked just as well as when younger vampires used their entire ability. However, she did not adopt the vacant look that humans had when glamoured.

\- "It's not that I have something against vampires." She said, looking thoughtful. "If anything I guess I should have been flattered – vampires _are_ actually quite famous for their super-human strength" she added, but she sounded somewhat annoyed with that fact. "But it's bad enough that they see us as a bunch of weak and pathetic creatures" Godric internally winced at those words, knowing the truth behind them, "we should have more self-respect and not believe that just because someone is strong, they have to be vampire." She shrugged. "And I don't like people who make excuses for their own weakness." She said dismissively. "Anyway, I should really be on my way now. You stay safe!" She flashed him one last smile before turning her back to him and striding away, her pace confident, her long ponytail swaying with her every step.

Godric watched her back for a little while as she grew smaller in the distance. He believed she might not be completely human – her strength and apparent ability to resist glamouring certainly indicated so. But then she hadn't used magical powers, so he ruled out the possibility of her being a witch. And she didn't smell like a were or a shifter. In fact, she almost did not smell at all. He sniffed the air. The scent of the three men was still strong, but hers was very faint.

But as she disappeared from his view, the ancient vampire told himself that there were too many mysteries in this world for him to try and unravel all of them. She didn't look like a threat, and she didn't seem to have any extraordinary ability, so he quickly turned his mind back to the matter that had brought him there in the first place.

He still had a vampire to catch.

* * *

And that's it for chapter 1 :)

Next one will be from the girl's POV. And there is something special about her, but what exactly will only be explained later in the story, once she and Godric have grown closer. About that, I'm planning to make the relationship evolve gradually. I just can't see Godric as the love at first sight typee (when he turned Eric maybe but not in his later years).

Review if you like :)

PS: English is not my native language, so my apologies for any sentence that may read weird!


	2. A night out

Grace stepped inside her apartment, and tossed her jacket on the back of the couch before heading over to the kitchen to make herself some dinner. _Heck of a night_, she thought with a sigh, massaging the back of her neck with one hand as she dropped her grocery bag on the small table.

She had been working late recently, investigating the vampire attacks that had been taking place in the last couple of weeks. She had just been made detective, so she wasn't assigned the most interesting cases. Her ambition was to make it to the homicide unit, like her father, but until then she was stuck with small battery or robbery cases.

But vampire attacks struck close to her heat, and the last one had taken place only streets away from her place, which only made things worse. So she had decided to sneak into the archives room after working hours, to get her hands on the files containing the reports on the attacks. Not that she thought she was so smart she could figure things out better than more experienced officers. But she probably knew more about vampires than any of them did, seeing as she had practically been raised by one since her teenage years, and there may be things in those files that she might pick up which would go unnoticed by others.

She hadn't found anything, though. And when she had left her workplace around midnight, she had remembered her very empty fridge, and her equally empty stomach, and had decided to stop by at the 24/24 grocery shop a couple of blocks away from where she lived.

That's when she had heard three men bothering a man for money. She had been standing at the entrance of the shop when they had approached him, and he had had his back to her so she hadn't been able to see his face. Only that he was wearing very plain clothes, was rather short for a man but quite muscular, and held himself with a straight back and and head, giving off an impression of quiet self-confidence.

That's why at first she had been rather surprised when he had simply handed over the money without so much as a word. But then she realized that doing as instructed had probably been the wisest option: better end up with a little less money rather than a little less blood. You never knew who you might be upsetting these days. And if vampires were quite violent, they weren't even the only ones. Humans were getting carried away too, reckoning they would get away easily with small infractions, since the police was already unable to cope with the increased number of vampire attacks.

From close up, she had been shocked to see how young the man looked, no older than twenty. And he had looked so... off. Very pale, unusually quiet, he hadn't seemed to need to blink _quite_ as often as normal humans did, which she had found rather creepy. And his manners when he had addressed her had only added to his weirdness - he had been way too formal for someone so young. The thought had crossed her mind that he may have been vampire - but why would a vampire allow humans to rob him when they could easily fight them off, or glamour them away?

With a sigh, Grace poured the noodles that she had been cooking into a cup. She ate quickly, showered and went to bed with a glance to her alarm clock. 2:00 AM. Meh. She had a full week ahead of her and needed rest. She chased the young man away from her mind effortlessly and fell asleep immediately,

When she got to work the next day, she heard news that made her forget about him for good.

\- "Park! Hey, Park!" she turned to see Detective Davis sprinting towards her. "I know you've been obsessing over those vampire attacks…"

\- "I'm not obsessing, just want to put an end to them!" She interrupted quickly. She didn't want anyone to investigate her interest for the case.

\- "… and you should come with me. I have something that you will probably find of interest." He finished, not bothering to acknowledge her protest. That made her smile. She liked Davis. He was always messing around and making jokes in a light tone, but he could turn dead serious whenever the situation called for it and was the best homicide detective in the station. Incidentally, he also happened to be the one investigating the attacks. She knew he'd have her on this team if he could, seeing as with barely 4 years as a cop and a couple of weeks as a detective, she had the best closing rates in the station for the cases she handled. But she was still just too green.

\- "Here." He said, starting a video on his computer. A recording of the attack that had taken place 2 nights ago near her place, she thought, clearly recognizing the young woman whose body was now lying in the morgue.

\- "Where did you get that, Sir?" She asked the older detective. "When?"

He shrugged.

\- "A man showed up this morning." He said. "Before you arrived" He added in a light tone and with a look in her direction from the corner of his eye, innocently pointing out her tardiness. She knew he didn't really care, though, and was only trying to mess affectionately. He was like that with everyone, but with her even more. He had known her since she was a little girl after all.

\- "He owns a jewelry store near the crime scene," Davis went on, "and the security cam took the recording. He was away on business the day it happened and yesterday, so we didn't get the footage right away. But he came back today and delivered this to us."

Grace wanted to play the video once more, to take a closer look at the vampire. But Davis refused point blank, telling her he didn't have all day to satisfy her curiosity.

\- "Any chance I could have a copy of the recording then, Sir? In exchange for coffee?" She practically begged.

\- "Come now, Park, you know I can't do that." She made a face. "Pssshh, be on your way now." He told her, shooing her away with one hand, and she knew she had lost this one. He was already doing her a favour by letting her in on the details of the case, and she really wasn't entitled to ask for anymore than that.

But when she reached her small desk in the open space, she saw a white envelope with her name on it. She opened it to find a black USB key. She searched for a note, but there was none.

She plugged the device in: it was the copy Davis had just refused her. He had known she'd ask, of course. She looked over to his office hoping to meet his eye, but he was busy filling in paperwork. She grinned to herself, making a mental note to bring him coffee later. That was the deal she had offered, after all.

She wanted to get started on the video right away, but she had work that she _actually_ had been assigned to do. And as passionate as she was about this case, she was an extremely conscious cop, and put her duty before anything else. Which was why Davis had given her the record, she figured. He knew she wouldn't allow it to interfere with her job. And so with a sigh, she put the USB key away in her drawer, and got back to her current case. She worked straight until 8pm, when she remembered that her cousin, and best friend, was supposed to pick her up for a drink this evening. She grabbed her jacket, hurried back home and had only finished showering when her cousin knocked on the door loudly.

\- "YEAAAAAAH, COMING RIGHT 'WAY", Grace yelled from the bathroom. Pulling on a plain white T-shirt over jeans shorts, she ran to the door and opened it to reveal her stunning cousin standing with her arms crossed, tapping her foot with impatience.

She raised a perfect eyebrow at Grace's outfit, before moaning that she'd never make anything of her cousin, and stepped into the living room. Grace only stuck out her tong at her, and slipped into a pair of ballerinas. She knew she wasn't exactly dressed for a night out, but she wasn't one for sexy dresses and high heels. She _could_ wear those, and she enjoyed dressing up smartly at times. But she always felt more comfortable dressed casually. Besides, they weren't going to a club tonight, just a regular bar. She hadn't expected Hye Na to have had the same reasoning, though.

Her cousin believed in always being impeccable, even to go over to the baker's to get bread. Tonight she was dressed in a short, close-fitting dress that showed her long legs and emphasized her tiny waist, completed with stilettos and a black pouch. Her wavy jet black hair was falling freely over her shoulders, her lips painted blood-red, her emerald-green stare, so unusual in an Asian face, intensified by a smoky-eye make-up. She truly was impossibly beautiful, and stylish on top of it. But Grace knew that Hye Na wasn't in the slightest conceited about her beauty, and she loved her cousin's extravagant nature, as opposed to her more reserved one.

\- "Ok girly! Let's get the party started! C'mon, c'mon c'mon!" Hye Na flashed her a perfect smile, bumping her hips against hers, and clapping her hands to hurry her up as Grace jammed her key, wallet and phone in her bag, along with her badge and silver handcuffs. The attacks hadn't stopped so she had taken to carrying the silver handcuffs that Han had given her two years before, right after the Great Revelation, instead of her regular ones.

The drive to the bar took around half an hour, during which Hye Na had music blaring in the car as she sung out the lyrics. Grace smiled at that, singing along her cousin occasionally. The last past few weeks had been rather stressful, and she needed to let the steam off. And her cousin knew just how to make that happen.

The bar was relatively busy, but not crowded, and the music was really good. They spotted the group of Hye Na's friends that they were meeting up with, and Grace smiled as she recognized the familiar faces. They were all really fun to hang around with, and after a couple of drinks she had forgotten about her week. Not that she was drunk – not at all. It took a certain amount of alcohol to get her so much as tipsy. But the atmosphere was just too enjoyable.

At some point she felt Hye Na nudge her in the ribs with her elbow, and followed her stare to a man standing alone at the counter. And very obviously drinking True Blood. Grace looked at his features, and although she could only see the right side of his face, her heart skipped a beat. Tall, he had black hair slicked back with a lot of gel. And a thin scar than ran across his lips. The very same scar that she had noticed the week before on the vampire who appeared on the recording of the attack, which she had played and replayed to gather every single detail it offered.

\- "Think I'll go and hit on that one." She heard her cousin whisper to her ear, as she got up from her chair.

\- "Wait!" Grace exclaimed. "Er… Leave this one to me?" She pleaded, not wanting her anywhere near the beast.

Hye Na's mouth fell open, and she fell back in her seat. They had grown up together, and shared 24 years of close friendship, and yet she had _never_ seen Grace hit on a guy. So she was more than happy to oblige, and positively beamed when her cousin asked her if she could have the keys to the car. Although she didn't let go of said keys without a "Beware, Miss Detective, no drunk and drive!" Uttered in a mock chiding tone. Grace winked and blew her a kiss before turning her back to her cousin, feeling nervous.

As Grace approached the place where he was standing, she discretely retrieved the silver handcuffs from her bag to place them in the back pocket of her shorts, then accentuated the swing of her hips slightly, and, raising a hand to her pony tail, shook her long hair free, allowing it to frame her fine features. She addressed the bar tender with a smile, ordering a random cocktail. She could see the vampire looking at her from the corner of her left eye. She forced herself to keep her eyes away from him, placed her elbows on the counter, propping her chin on her interlaced fingers, and started chatting idly with the cute bartender, laughing as he made a show of preparing her cocktail.

When it was ready she grabbed it from the counter and made to take out her credit card to pay for it, when she saw a hand with long, pale fingers throw a couple of bills to the bartender.

\- "This one's on me", she heard a voice say to her left, "and keep the change."

She looked up to see the vampire smiling down at her. His fangs were not showing. She allowed her gaze to rest on the bottle of TB in front of him, and his half-finished glass.

\- "How gentlemanly of you."She said, raising her drink to her lips as her eyes found his. "Maybe even a little bit _old-fashioned_, I would say." She added, taking a long sip and giving him what she hoped to be an "intense and mysterious" look. She wasn't too great at seduction, and hadn't really bothered to practice her "intense and mysterious" stares, but Hye Na had told her they worked wonders on most men, and Hye Na knew very well what worked wonders on men. Grace considered twirling a strand of her hair around one of her fingers, but reckoned it may look just a bit _too_ _much_ if she did it all at once. She'd keep that trick in store for later.

The vampire laughed at her comment, and offered his name. Fréderic de Sauton. _So he's Frenc_h, she thought. Unless it was an adopted name. In any case, it sounded good, and after talking for a fashion, she had to admit that he was truly charming. Although a bit boring after a while – but then, she always tended to find flirting a bit boring after a while. Which was one of the reason why she didn't often engage in it.

At one point, he allowed his fingers to brush against hers, and she smiled, doing her best to look as if the touch turned her on.

\- "How about we finish this conversation in a more… private place?" He asked, his voice lower, deeper.

She didn't answer, but caressed the back of his hand with her thumb. He seized her by the hand, gently pulled her to her feet, and guided her out of the bar.

She had no idea where he was taking her, and there was no one else in the streets. For a second, she felt panic. For just a second, before she forced herself to get in control again. She had to take him down now, before he started going full-vampire on her.

She focused her mind on the very first lesson that Han had taught her about defending herself against vampires, when she was still a teenager.

_Your greatest asset is the element of surprise. Until you gain more strength and speed, you'll have to knock them out immediately so as not to waste this advantage. One strike, two max. Now, you're __easily strong enough to knock out a human, but a vampire will recover from any blow in no time. So i__f you have silver or a stake, use it. Otherwise, you'll have to hit a weak spot. Imagine that you want to break a very big, heavy rock with a wooden stick. If you smash the stick on the rock, it'll shatter. But if you find a crack in that rock, and use the tip of the stick as leverage, you might be able to extend the crack._

She had found the metaphor very weird, but had kept that thought private.

_If they're standing in front of you, strike the eyes hard enough to puncture them. Before they start healing, the pain will be so intense it will numb their other senses. If they have their back to you, hit the crook of their knees. And then, there's the back of the neck. There is a nerve that runs through the whole body. Human or vampire, it doesn't matter: you strike the correct place with the right amount of strength, and they'll be out cold for a good while. _

Grace glanced sideways towards the vampire. Fréderic was too tall for her to reach the back of his neck. She'd need to bring him down first.

She stopped in her tracks and took a step backwards, just as he took a couple of steps forward. Then he tensed and she could tell he was about to turn and face her. So before he had the chance, she stomped her foot in the back of his right knee at full force. That didn't quite bring him to the ground, but that did bring his neck close enough for her to reach. She drew her elbow backwards as far as she could, to accumulate speed and increase the weight of her blow when she struck. Then in one swift, sharp motion, she slammed the edge of her hand against his neck.

For a second, nothing happened, and she feared she had hit the wrong spot. But then he fell to the floor. She gave a quiet but triumphant "Hah!" and secured the silver cuffs around his wrists, his skin melting and smoking where it met the metal. Yuck.

Now all that was left to do was bring the body to Hye Na's car. She looked in front of her, then to her back and sides. There was no one in sight. She bent over the tall body, and although he must have been weighing a good 200 lbs, she managed to pick him up. Gritting her teeth, she hoisted him onto her back, his head and limbs dangling lifelessly, and walked as fast as she could to where the car was parked, praying that no one would see her.

Slightly out of breath, she unlocked the back door of the car and propped the vampire's back and head against the right door window, tucked his legs in, then shut the door.

She settled herself behind the wheel swiftly. She needed to hurry. The station was a good 30 min drive from here, and then she'd need to get him to a cell. And if he woke up before that, silver handcuffs or not, she feared she was screwed.


	3. At the police station

**GODRIC**

The sheriff remained silent for a moment as he processed the news his second in command had just brought to him.

A vampire was being held up at a police station. A _human_ police station. And he was not just any vampire, he was the one responsible for the recent attacks on humans. The one Godric and his underlings had been tracking – in vain – for the past few weeks. And now the _human_ police had arrested him before Godric could.

This was an unprecedented situation. Ever since the Great Revelation, assaults on humans had been outlawed by vampire legislation. He knew that many sheriffs didn't bother to enforce that law though, leaving humans to deal with vampire assaults. But this wasn't how things went in his area. He had always made it very clear that humans were to be left in peace, had always caught infringers, and had always severely punished them.

If the news were to spread that humans had succeeded where he had failed, that would be quite a blow to his reputation as a highly capable sheriff, and therefore to his authority. And anything that was bad for his authority on vampires was bad for the safety of humans.

\- "How long does your source say he has been there?" he asked the Hispanic woman. Isabel had glamoured a few policemen in the various stations of the city, so that if they heard anything related to vampires, they would contact her right away.

\- "He was just brought in by a police officer, sheriff." She answered. "In the Northwest district station", she added with her lovely accent.

\- "Just _one_ police officer? How the hell did a single human manage to overpower the vampire?" Stan exclaimed loudly.

The ancient vampire privately agreed, but he had no time to waste on conjunctures. He looked up to the clock on the wall. 1:00 am. There were only a few hours before sunrise, he needed to act quickly.

\- "I am going to retrieve him and bring him back here. You two come with me. Isabel, you have every human who witnessed the event forget a vampire was ever there. Stan, there's bound to be video-protection in the station. Find the recordings of tonight - just _tonight_ \- and delete them. Then disconnect the cameras so no one sees us leave. Make it look like a failure in the security system," he ordered.

\- "Yes, sheriff" his underlings answered, nodding their head in agreement.

And with that, they were off.

Luckily, the only human places where vampires needed an invitation to enter were homes. So they had no difficulty entering the police station. Godric glamoured a man who was standing guard into bringing him to the prisoner, while Isabel and Stan went to accomplish their own tasks.

The man brought him to the basement, explaining that a room had been installed there after the Great Revelation, with cells that couldn't be reached by sunlight. As far as he knew, however, the room had never been put to use until that very night.

When they reached the door, Godric instructed the guard to return to his position.

\- "Be careful though", the man said in the neutral tone that humans had when glamoured. "Detective Park brought him in, and she's still here."

That surprised him slightly. _She_?

He opened the door, careful not to make a noise. The room was rectangular and rather small, but it certainly did look newer than what he had seen of the place until now. Five cells were lining the walls on the right side of the door. The corridor between the wall on the left and the cells on the right one was very narrow, and at its end was a single cell, in which he could see the unconscious vampire lying on the ground. A female human was sitting in a chair, facing the prisoner and was currently absorbed by something in her hands. Her body was preventing him from seeing what it was. All he could tell was that her long, shiny black hair was held up in a high ponytail, and that she was wearing a white T-Shirt. All Godric needed to do was get to her level, glamour her into giving him the keys, and leave with the vampire.

A second later, he was standing to her right. She jumped from her chair and, incredibly, managed to maintain balance as her chair toppled to the ground with a _clank_. _Much like a cat_, he thought.

And then his eyes were on hers, and surprise replaced amusement. He knew that face.

She was the girl he had met a couple of nights before, and who had seeked to help him out. She was carrying a gun in one hand.

She let out a surprised breath as she recognized him, and he saw uncertainty flicker across her face, but then her expression became suspicious, her muscles tensing ever so slightly, pointing the gun to his chest. _Humans_, he thought.

She didn't speak immediately. But then after a moment:

\- "You. I _did_ wonder whether you were a vampire last time we met… Who are you? And why are you here?" She still spoke in the same calm voice as when they had met, but this time there was a suspicious edge to it.

\- "I am the sheriff in this area," he said simply.

\- "The… _You_'re the sheriff?" she repeated slowly, sounding disbelieving.

He frowned. It would make sense that she would be surprised to learn that vampires had sheriffs, since very few humans were aware of vampire hierarchy. Her question and tone of voice, however, rather indicated that she already knew that such position existed, but was surprised that _he_ would be occupying it. Well, she wasn't the first one. He dismissed her last question, instead answering her second one.

\- "I am here to retrieve this one", he said, allowing his eyes to rest briefly on the form lying on the ground "to justice amongst our own. Please, let me in his cell", he asked as he stared back into her eyes, reckoning it was time to glamour her and be done with it.

On the night he had first seen her, he had had the impression that glamouring didn't work on her. However, he had only used a fraction of his ability then, and some humans had a stronger mind, which needed more pressure to be manipulated. So this time, he pushed with all of his power. But…

\- "No." Her answer was short, definitive, confirming what Godric had been suspecting. She couldn't be glamoured. Which was very problematic.

He remained silent, deciding on what to do next.

She didn't speak either, and for a short while the only sound he could hear in the room was that of her breathing and her heartbeat. Both were steady, he realized. It was one thing to stand your ground when confronting a vampire, but it was an entirely different one to remain quite so collected in such a situation, especially when you weren't expecting it. So she was either overly self-confident, allowing herself to believe that despite him being vampire and her being human, she could overpower him, or she had some outstanding self-control.

\- "Please. I can assure you that he will be brought to justice for his assaults on humans" he said truthfully.

\- "Murders," she corrected flatly. "Assaults do not end up with dead bodies."

\- "Murders", he agreed sadly. "I understand that humans would want to deal with him themselves," he went on. "But your punishments do not affect us. Vampires are much better suited to deal with vampires."

She didn't answer, and he understood from her look that she wasn't ready to give up. And suddenly, he felt very tired of the whole situation.

His last option to retrieve the unconscious vampire would be to get past her by force, which he could do in less time that she'd take to realize he had moved. He didn't even need to kill her, only strike hard enough to knock her out, without any lasting consequences for her.

But he had come here to do what he believed was best for human-vampire relationship, and he hadn't planned on using force against anyone. Much less against someone who had been willing to put themselves in danger on his account on a previous occasion, without even knowing him, just because they believed he needed help.

Godric sighed inwardly, as he made his decision. Stan was so going to throw a tantrum.

**GRACE**

Grace blinked in surprise as he turned her back to her without a word, and started walking away from the door.

_What the…?_

She stared at his back, her hands lowering to her side, and she dropped the gun. Was he seriously just going to leave? Why would a vampire come in to claim a prisoner, and then just give up because she was there? He could have dealt with her in a heartbeat.

Just like he could have dealt with those thugs who had taken his money the other night. Yet in both cases, he had chosen to cave in instead of using violence.

_Your punishments do not affect us. Vampires are much better suited to deal with vampires,_ he had told her. And now that he had said that, she knew it was true.

What Grace knew about vampires, she knew through what Han had told her. But he had only arrived to the US and settled in Dallas a few years ago, and had kept entirely away from his own kind, so he himself only had a very superficial knowledge of how vampires ran things in the country. He had told her all about vampires' abilities and weaknesses, but as far as the organization of vampire society went, he had only explained that each US State was ruled by a king, each kingdoms being divided into areas where sheriffs were supposed to enforce vampire and human laws.

So she had no idea how justice was rendered among vampires, but now it seemed obvious that they had to have trials and criminal penalties as well.

Grace rubbed the back of her neck, turning towards the prisoner, realizing that she may have acted rashly. What was she supposed to do with him when he woke up? He'd be hell bent on escaping. And since she had no idea how old he was, he may or may not be able to break through the cells. And the silver handcuffs would cause him suffering, but they probably weren't solid enough to hold him.

So perhaps the wise thing to do _actually_ was to give him up to the relevant vampire authority.

She looked back at the space the vampire had just vacated. Power didn't depend on human age, Han had told her. Only years of existence mattered. And although there was no telling how long this one had been on earth, he had that unnerving, unblinking stare that certainly didn't belong to such a youthful face. Maybe he could be sheriff indeed. And his willingness to choose retreat instead of violence certainly played in his favour.

\- "Wait!" she yelled as she broke into a run, hoping that he hadn't already super-sped out of the station.

Obviously, he hadn't, she figured as he reappeared in the door-frame just as she reached it.

\- "OUCH!" She yelped in pain as she slammed against him, her forehead colliding with his chin. She stumbled backwards, tiny stars erupting in front of her eyes.

\- "Sorry! I – er…?" her voice trailed away as she felt a hand land on her shoulder softly and hold her just strongly enough to steady her on her feet. Her heart skipped a beat, her face grew suddenly warm, and she jumped away from his grip.

_Argh_!_ So embarrassing_, she thought, bringing her hands to her brow to massage the throbbing spot, conveniently hiding her face behind them. The last thing she needed was for the vampire sheriff to see her react like a schoolgirl under his touch. And she wasn't even attracted to him, he looked way too… unearthly.

Once she was satisfied that the blush had subsided, and that her heartbeat was steady again, she lowered her hands, and raised her eyes to his. She had never been this close to him, and now she could see that he had very unusual eyes – an astonishing green-blue-greyish colour. And she noticed that he was currently surveying her with a small crease between his slightly raised eyebrows, concern dancing on his features. Well Ok, he looked more human like that – and actually kind of cute.

And then, her blush was back on. Damn, what was wrong with her?

Shaking her head, she coughed into her hand to clear her voice.

\- "Yeah, so… I think you're right," she said, not quite meeting his eyes. "Maybe it would be for the best if vampires were the ones to deal with him." She turned her back to him and went to the cell. She took the key out of her pocket, opened it and crouched over the unconscious body to retrieve the silver shackles.

When she faced the sheriff again, she was once more quite collected, and he had his unreadable expression back on.

\- "I only have one thing to ask in return," she added, and she was pleased to hear that her voice sounded determined. "The detective in charge of the investigations is called Jefferson Davis. He's a ranking officer, as well as a very capable and reasonable man. You should get in contact with him and let him know about the rest of the…procedure. I think this case has proven that human and vampire law enforcement officers should actually cooperate, instead of investigating separately."

For a moment, he only stared at her with his head cocked slightly to the right, his transparent eyes locked with hers. She started chewing nervously on her lower lip, before chiding herself inwardly and forcing her expression to remain as cool as possible.

\- "I will do that," he finally said. "I understand that this decision may cause you trouble with your superiors. It is a brave and wise choice to make, Miss Park".

Upon hearing that, she couldn't keep her eyebrows from flying into her hair, as her eyes widened in surprise. She had never offered him her name. So how on earth did he know it?

But before she found her voice again to ask, he had already collected the body and, as he reached her level, he gave her one last nod.

\- "Until we meet again, detective"

She shook her head.

\- "Let's rather hope that we never do" she answered, thinking that only another series of assaults and/or murders would bring them together again, something she certainly hoped wasn't going to happen. But then she realized it may be misinterpreted.

\- "I mean –" she started explaining.

\- "I understand what you meant, detective" he interrupted, and she saw from the infinite sadness that danced in his eyes for a brief moment that he did.

Uneasiness crept into her heart upon that sight, and she felt the need to find something comforting to say. But before anything came to her mind, he had walked away. And this time, when she reached the door, he was gone for good.


	4. The confrontation

This chapter and the next one will be from Grace's POV, because I really want to ithoroughly introduce her character.

But chapter 6 will be Godric's POV :)

* * *

Grace was standing in the elevator, dreading the confrontation with her hierarchy that was bound to come. Given the circumstances, she may even be heard by the commander of the division himself, Deputy Chief Morris.

Some officers happened to be quite narrow-minded about vampires, and she knew they would refuse point blank to see that keeping the prisoner wasn't a viable option. Some might go as far as dramatically calling her action "fraternizing with the enemy". Which would be quite ironic, really, since her general feelings towards vampires were, in fact, less than brotherly. But she would never allow her personal feelings about them to cloud her judgment.

Of course, she could tell the events so as to make it sound like the sheriff had _threatened_ her into giving up the prisoner. But not only would that would be untrue, it would also back up the prejudice and reinforce the hatred against his kind, when what the city needed was for each species to take a step towards the other. And in any case, given the presence of security cameras in the basement cells room, it was probable that the whole event had been filmed, and even without sound it would be perfectly clear that _she_ had taken the initiative to call him back.

The elevator reached her floor level with a _ding_. She squared her shoulder and raised her chin ever so slightly, taking a deep breath as she stepped out of it. As she had expected, the room was buzzing with what seemed to be hot news. And since her small desk was located at the back left corner of the open space, she'd have to cross the room in front of everyone.

But as she passed by desk after desk, no one looked up at her. She got the same greetings, some dismissive, some polite, some cheerful, as she usually did. As she reached her place, she spotted Hemming, who occupied the desk in front of her, standing near the coffee machine. She hastily threw her jacket over the back of her chair before walking up to him.

\- "So what's the big news?" she asked casually, inserting a coin into the coffee machine.

\- "Late as usual, eh?" he mocked.

\- "Bah. Everyone knows that I'm not much of an early riser" she answered with a wink as the machine biped to indicate that her cappuccino was ready. "And that I compensate by staying later." she added, taking a sip from the beverage, and immediately remembering why she usually brought her own thermos.

\- "I know, just messing with you", the blond cop said with a smile. "Anyways, something went wrong with the security system yesterday evening. Everything that was filmed until 1:15 AM was lost, and the cameras stopped working after that until the 7:00 AM shift."

_1:15AM_. _Right_ _about the time the sheriff came in, _Grace thought, tapping her index against the plastic cup.

\- "Electric failure?" she inquired, anticipating the answer.

\- "Nope", Hemmming said, shaking his head. "Wouldn't have caused the loss of what had already been recorded. No, the only possibility is that somebody messed up with the system, but it couldn't have been done from the outside. Only, Gunder and Stevens were standing watch, and they swear no one entered the station."

Grace frowned, absent-mindedly stirring her coffee. Those two had actually not only seen her bring the vampire in, they had also helped her carry him to the basement. A detail they weren't likely to ever forget. So if they didn't remember that, it probably meant that their memories of the night had been altered. And she knew exactly who happened to have the ability to do just that.

With no cam footage and no witness, it was as if no vampire had ever set foot there.

_Smooth_, she privately congratulated the sheriff, and she started heading back to her desk.

\- "But there's something else, too" Hemming said, raising a finger in front of him as he seemed to remember something, and Grace froze. "A man came in this morning, one I've never seen here before. Didn't care to introduce himself to us, but he's been with Morris for a good 45 minutes now. And Davis's in there too" he added with a nod towards the deputy chief's office.

Ah. She thought she might have an idea what this was about, but needed to confirm it. So she waited until she could speak with the older detective.

An hour later, Morris was stepping out of his office, and she watched as he held the door for a man dressed in a black suit, who briefly shook hands with him before walking towards the elevator. Finally, she thought, believing that Davis would leave too and that she'd be able to ask him what it was all about. But Morris stepped back in, closing the door on him and the detective.

Needless to say, not much work was accomplished this morning. Grace kept glancing towards the office and when finally – _finally_ – they came out, her heart clenched. She couldn't see the commander's face, he had his back to her. But Davis looked dead serious, with a hint of concern, an expression he didn't wear very often. He walked away, and her eyes followed him as he went back to his office. He seemed completely absorbed in his thoughts, mechanically rubbing his chin with one hand. Obviously, right now would be a very bad timing to go talk to him. With a sigh, Grace resigned herself to waiting until the afternoon.

At 4:00 PM, she gathered a couple of random files to look like she had an excuse to go and talk to Davis. The door to his office was closed – something he only ever did when he needed to keep a conversation private. And yet, through the glass door she could see that he was neither in a meeting nor on the phone. His eyes were on his computer, but she could tell he wasn't really focusing on whatever he was doing.

She raised her hand to the door and knocked. He looked up from his screen, and with a tiny nod gestured her in.

\- "I'm sorry Park, but now is not a good time" he said, once she had moved closer to his desk.

\- "Sir, it's about the case you're investigating, the one about the assaults…"

\- "We're not exactly investigating it anymore" he interrupted her, his jaw clenching. "But I'm afraid I can't share any more information with you about it" he added, looking apologetic.

\- "I was just wondering," she started, not knowing quite how to formulate her interrogations, "this meeting you had with the Deputy Chief this morning… Did it have anything to do with, er, the sheriff?" she asked. The question didn't make much sense, but she figured that if it was about that, Davis would understand where she was getting at. And if it wasn't, he'd think she was talking about a random human sheriff and would ask her to elaborate.

_Option 1_, she thought to herself as his eyes narrowed, the muscles in his shoulder tensing. She was still standing in front of his desk.

\- "Close the door," he instructed quietly, "and take a sit." She did as she was told and for a moment he only surveyed her with an unreadable expression. Then he started talking again. "The man who was here this morning works for the vampire sheriff. He came here to tell us that the perpetrator of the recent attacks had been arrested, and was being kept into custody on the sheriff's premises." He laid back in his armchair, and started rubbing his chin again. "Apparently, since the victims were human, the sheriff feels that we should be granted access to the prisoner should we wish to interrogate him. And that, in any case, he ought to keep us informed us about the different stages of the procedure." Davis paused, and his eyes wandered away from Grace. When he spoke again, he seemed to be talking to himself rather than her. "This doesn't make any sense. I've never heard vampires share information about how they deal with their criminals." He frowned. "I didn't even know that they so much as dealt with their criminals. That blonde woman on TV's been talking about how vampire laws ban any acts of violence against humans, but to think that they _actually_ have a law enforcement system…" His voice trailed away as his eyes met hers again, and he seemed to remember her presence. "Anyways", he said after clearing his throat, and his voice had lost its dreamy edge "what do _you_ know about all that?"

Grace took a moment to ponder her words. And then she told him everything about the previous night's events, starting from when she had recognized the vampire at the bar.

Davis grabbed a pen and started tapping it onto his desk in a slow rhythm. Once she was finished talking, the only sound she could hear in the room for a whole minute was that of plastic against wood.

_Tap_. _Tap_. _Tap_.

And then he carefully rested the pen onto his desk, before asking:

\- "Park, are you completely out of your mind?" He sounded almost casual, his expression blank. _Uh oh_. She knew Davis. The calmer he appeared, the more angry he was.

She didn't know what to think of it. She had expected heated reactions from other officers, but Davis was reasonable and she had thought he'd side with her. But when she tried justifying herself, he interrupted her flatly.

\- "I'm not talking about what happened in the station. I'm talking about you thinking you could take down a vampire on your own, without bothering to follow protocol." His voice was losing its cool edge.

\- "Sir", she answered, "There was no time to follow protocol. I'm perfectly qualified to apprehend a suspect without -"

\- "A human suspect, yes!" he interrupted, jumping to his feet, his palms pressed against his desk as he hunched over it. "But a vampire? A _vampire_, Park? Alone? With no weapon? And no back up? And _absolutely_ _no one_ knowing what you were up to?" He took a deep breath before he went on. When he did, his voice was once more under control. "I know you're quick to act. Daring, even. But you're not a hothead, Park. You're not reckless. You think before you act, you don't get carried away, and that's why things work out so well. So tell me, what were you thinking?" He sat back and crossed his arms over his chest as his eyes locked with hers.

Grace swallowed. She clenched her fingers around the arms of her chair. She wanted to explain, to say that that she hadn't allowed self-confidence to get the best of her, that she hadn't just gotten away with it out of sheer luck. But for that she'd need to spill secrets that she didn't want to let out. Although she had always gotten top marks at every physical test, she had always been very careful not let her actual strength show. Nor could she tell him that she had undergone years of _hellish_ training with no less than a vampire, making her perfectly able to defend herself against them. OK, maybe not _perfectly_, but really not too bad for a human.

\- "He would have attacked someone else, Sir. I had to do something." She answered through gritted teeth. That was all she could find.

\- "Oh, that you did" he replied, and Grace's eyes widened slightly at that reaction. "You had to find a way to contact me so that we could determine a plan of action."

\- "But there was no time!" she protested again.

\- "No time? _No time_?" He hissed "How long did you stay at the bar before leaving with him?"

\- "A couple of hours" she answered reluctantly, seeing where that was going.

\- "Exactly. Enough for me to come with back-up." His tone was final.

Grace dropped her eyes, and remained silent. She couldn't argue with that, leaving her with nothing else to say.

Damn. This was _so not_ what she had expected.

She had known Davis for a long time. He had worked under her father's orders, and had looked out for her ever since she had entered the police. When she had been promoted to detective, he had told her that her father would be proud of her. Other people had, too, but their words didn't mean as much as his did, since he'd been so close to her dad. She had actually thought he'd say it again when she managed to catch a wanted murderer, once so powerful at that. But instead there was this cold disappointment, which felt like the worst thing she had ever experienced.

\- "Are there going to be sanctions?" She asked from the tip of her lips, feeling that she might be sick. Breaking the protocol for apprehending a suspect wasn't enough to suspend her, especially since it hadn't resulted in any harm, but any disciplinary sanctions would look bad on her file.

He took a moment to answer.

\- "No. This remains between us. But if I ever were thinking to associate you with this…" he seemed to be searching for words "collaboration thing with vampires, you can forget about that now."

She nodded, feeling just a bit lighter. If Davis believed that she'd have liked to be part of this unprecedented procedure, and that keeping her away from it made for a suitable punishment, then let him think so. Truth was, now that the threat had been dealt with, she was quite content to stay away from any more vampires. But she certainly wasn't going to tell him that.

Then Davis told her to be on her way, and she hurried back to her desk. The first thing she did was grab her phone, and text Hye Na.

_Hey coz'_, she typed._ You free tonight? I may use a friend. And a drink._

_Rather more than one, _she thought as she pressed _send_.

It only took a few minutes until she felt her phone buzz on the table, and she smiled upon seeing her cousin's answer. At least she had something to look forward to.

At 6:00 PM, she gathered her things, jumped into her car and drove home. After a long, warm bath her cousin showed up and they ordered delivery food, which they ate in front of a cheesy movie Hye Na had picked up. She had brought a delicious wine that complemented the food perfectly.

\- "So tell me girly. What's bothering you?" Hye Na asked, turning the TV off as the movie came to an end. "Boys problem? I never thought I'd see the day when I'd be discussing boys problems with you. Is it about the guy from yesterday?" She inquired compassionately.

\- "Well, I guess you _could_ say it is about the guy from yesterday…" Grace started, and then, for the second time that day she went over the details of the the previous night's events. Only, her cousin couldn't have reacted more differently than Davis.

\- "No fucking way!" she exclaimed. "I can't believe you beat that vampire's bloody ass – pardon the pun. That is. SO. Cool." She picked up the wine bottle from where it was sitting on the table, refilled their glasses and handed Grace hers. She raised her hand in a mock toast. "To my cousin, the Vampire Slayer!" She said dramatically. Grace rolled her eyes, but still took a sip. "No, I'm serious" Hye Na went on, looking everything but that "I may just start calling you Buffy. Oh and if you ever meet Angel, you _have_ to introduce me!" she added with a devilish wink.

Grace stuck out her tongue to her, before filling her in with Davis' reaction. Her cousin shook her head.

\- "Ok, maybe that wasn't the smartest thing to do" she agreed. "But you know what would have happened if you hadn't gone to him? I would have. And he would have said yes, because no one says no to _that_" she said, bringing her hands to her face and then running them down her perfect figure "and who knows if I'd still be there?"

Grace pressed her lips together, resting her head on her cousin's shoulder.

\- "Yeah. I guess so. But the look on his face…"

\- "I know sweetheart. I know that you see him as a substitute father, and trust me, I know _all_ about fatherly disapproval." Hye Na said, placing an arm around her shoulder.

She herself was a journalist, something her very rich business man of a father didn't quite approve of. Had the choice been up to him, his daughter would have been a doctor. Or a lawyer. Hell, even a _proper_ journalist would have been acceptable, one who wrote about the financial crisis or the war in the Middle-East. But Hye Na didn't really write about what he considered to be "serious news". She rather preferred investigating "hot stuff", like scandals concerning politicians and other celebrities really.

\- "But I'm sure he really was just very worried about what could have happened to you." She added, grooming Grace's head. "He cares about you, and _some_ _people_ tend to get jumpy when their loved ones are in danger. Sounds like anyone you may know?" she asked innocently. Grace smiled. She knew her cousin referred to how over-protective she tended to be towards her two younger siblings. Their parents had died when those two were just babies, and their grand-parents had taken the three of them in, but for all their amazing job with the kids ,it was Grace who had practically raised them herself.

\- "Hey, I've gotten better at giving them their private space!" She countered feebly.

\- "Of course you have, honey! Since you've moved in on your own and started working over hours, you've only been calling them every single day! I mean, what kind of older sister doesn't do that?" her cousin agreed mockingly.

Grace grabbed a pillow from the couch and punched her lightly with it.

\- "Anyways" she said, figuring it was time to change the subject, "what's up with your job?"

\- "Ah now, I'm glad you're asking about it!" Suddenly, the journalist was looking very mysterious. "I've been given free rein from the redaction to – wait for it – infiltrate the Fellowship of the Sun and write an article about them!" She beamed.

\- "The Fellowship of the Sun?" Grace inquired skeptically. "Those lunatics who claim we ought to stake every vampire on earth? Well, I wonder who's Buffy now!" she concluded sarcastically.

\- "Oh you may laugh, my dear" her cousin said in a dignified tone, throwing back her sheet of long black hair in an elegant gesture "but it's very serious matter. Steve Newlin's words carry throughout the country, he's been gathering more and more fanatics, and word is spreading that they're preparing for spectacular action. And you should see the registration fees he asks for - real business man, that one. My father could take a leaf out of his book." She said, looking disgusted.

Grace rubbed her hand against her cousin's arm sympathetically.

\- "Ok, to be honest with you, I'd rather have written about vampires. But my redaction won't let me infiltrate _their_ networks. Apparently, my contract expressly forbids me from covering dangerous events such as wars and anything that may potentially put my physical or moral integrity at risk. And my boss interprets this clause as not allowing me anywhere near vampires. I mean, tell me about prejudices, right!" she exclaimed, scandalized.

\- "Totally. Absolutely unjustified" Grace said, vigorously nodding her head in agreement while privately thanking Hye Na's boss. This girl had a natural talent for attracting trouble, so best not push her luck. "But really, the Fellowship of the Sun sounds quite exciting," she added.

After all, what trouble could arise from researching material to write about a church?


	5. The Fellowship of the Sun

_A great deal of trouble_, Grace bitterly answered her own question as she looked up to the sky, which had coloured beautifully under the sinking sun, before allowing her eyes to settle back on the road.

It had been a sunny Friday morning when her phone had rung, and she had seen her cousin's name on it for the first time in two weeks. She had picked up with a bright smile. But then Hye Na had greeted her in Korean, and at that she knew something was wrong.

Hye Na's father was very big on their Korean heritage, and since Hye Na was very big on opposing her father, she made a point of never speaking Korean, even with her cousin. Except in two cases: when she was feeling particularly angry, which didn't seem to be the case, or when she wanted to make sure that no one else could understand what she was saying. Meaning that right now, the journalist had something to tell her that she didn't want overheard.

\- "Hye na! Is everything OK?" she had inquired worriedly in the same language.

\- "Jumping to the worst conclusions as usual, coz'… But in this case, it may be just right…" the journalist had answered in a hushed tone, confirming Grace's suspicions.

Hye Na had told her that most people having gone away from the church to undergo some kind of physical training the previous day, the church itself had been empty, an opportunity for her to "_visit the amazing premises in peace_" (which Grace understood as sneaking around places where she had no business). Apparently she had spotted the reverend, his wife and a big man who worked for them giving a tour of the church to a young couple that she didn't know, "_although they hadn't seemed to notice her_" (from which Grace inferred that she had hidden somewhere they couldn't see her).

She had just sneaked out of the church when she swore she could hear a noise that sounded very much like a girl yelling somewhere inside, but only for a short moment, and she couldn't tell where exactly. She had gone back inside, but no one was in sight. So she had waited outside the church's exit for them to come out. She had waited a _long_ time. And when they finally had, only the reverend, his wife and the other man were there. Sarah Newlin had been on the verge of tears. When Hye Na had come back in, she had looked everywhere, but no one else was there. The only place she hadn't been able to check was the crypt, where the reverend's father was allegedly buried, since the entrance door was locked. She had tried to figure a way to open it, but had failed, hence her call to her cop of a cousin.

Grace had listened to the story with an increased frown. When Hye Na was done, she hadn't spoken for a while as she processed the information. Then she had asked quietly:

\- "Do you think you might have missed them going out? Like, maybe, from another exit?"

\- "Maybe…" Hye Na had answered slowly, sounding hesitant. She had remained silent for a second, but when she had spoken again, her voice was firm. "Look, Grace, I know that you believe them to be a bunch of lunatics. But I can assure you , they are _dangerous_. I've been there for two weeks, and I've seen how they train, with guns, and rifles, and knifes, and heavy silver chains, and stakes… I know you're a cop and you work with evidence, and I don't have any – but my guts tell me that there's something very wrong going on there." She paused, and as Grace didn't answer straight away, she added "And if you don't believe me, I'll find out myself." Resolve was clear in her voice, and Grace sighed.

\- "All right. I'll see if I can take the afternoon off – pretend I have a family emergency." She said. That was, after all, rather close to the truth. "You can tell them at the church that you've shared with me how inspiring this whole experience has been for you until now, and that I want to see for myself."

That being agreed, Grace had gone to her supervisor, who had allowed her the afternoon off, before going to Davis to share the actual piece of information with him. After the humiliating confrontation from two weeks ago, she wasn't going to set a foot in there without telling him beforehand. Of course, he wasn't too pleased with the prospect. However, without a shred of evidence indicating a kidnapping - or worse - he couldn't possibly ask for a warrant to search the place. Neither could he stop her from going there, not as a cop, but as a civilian joining her cousin. So he had grudgingly told her to be careful and contact him if anything popped up, no matter what or when.

She had been welcomed by her cousin, introduced to the reverend and his wife, and arrangements had been made so that she could spend the night.

It was now well past bedtime, and since the dorm was in a separated building, the church was empty. As they stepped closer to its entrance, Grace instructed Hye Na to stand watch outside. She then stepped inside, and when she arrived in front of the door that lead to the crypt, she looked up over her shoulder to make sure no one was in sight. Pressing her ear against the door, she closed her eyes, and listened for a moment. She frowned. With her enhanced hearing, she could make out two faint voices. One male, one female, like Hye Na had said.

Grace swallowed before moving away from the door, appraising it. It was made of plain wood, with a security lock that she wouldn't know how to pick. She rested a hand on the door handle and shook it lightly. The lock seemed rather loose, and she figured it would give way easily if she used force.

She slammed her shoulder against the door as gently as she could, not wanting to send it flying off its hinges, for fear the noise might attract attention. The lock broke off, and she pushed the door open to find herself in a dark, empty room. Yet she managed to make out another door in front of her. She could hear the voices much more distinctly now, and she could tell that they were coming from behind that door. After breaking through it, she found herself at the top of a staircase that manifestly spiraled down into the crypt. Now she could actually hear what the voices were discussing.

\- "I begged her to turn me." The man was saying. "It's the only way we could be together as equals. See, they don't want us to be equals. No, she's just been using me, same way Bill's using you." Grace frowned. Who was "she"? And who was "Bill"? Use them to what purpose?

\- "You don't know Bill!" the woman answered tersely.

\- "I know he and his friends are using you to do their dirty work." The man countered "I mean, a telepath has to be a real trophy for a vampire."

Grace gaped. What the hell - a telepath? Did such a thing really exist? And it sounded like vampires were involved, and in some kind of "dirty work" too… _Well_, _shiny_, Grace thought bitterly, leaning a shoulder against the wall as she started rubbing a hand over her eyes.

\- "SHUT UP." The woman snapped. Looked like the man had struck a nerve there, whatever this conversation was about.

\- "All they care about is their own kind. So that's why I joined the Fellowship."

\- "So if the Newlins care so much about you, how come you're still in here? Face it Hugo! You're nothing better than a fang-banger traitor to them."

A pause. And then the sound of metal against metal, like wire being shaken.

\- "Gabe, Gabe she knows everything. You can let me out now." The man called out, and Grace tensed at that. She looked up over her shoulder, but if a third person was coming in, it wasn't going to be from there.

After a brief moment, the woman spoke again.

\- "Yeah, you're so important to them, aren't you?" Her voice was laced with sarcasm. The man didn't answer.

In any case, there was no doubt left that those were being held up.

Grace started chewing on her lower lip. She remembered that Hye Na had described them as a couple, which now seemed unlikely. By the sound of it, they had been trying to infiltrate the Fellowship on vampire's orders, but the man had ratted them out for some reason. However, his plan seemed to have backfired on him.

Bringing her hand to her jacket to take out her gun, Grace slowly started the descent, careful not to make a noise. Finally, the staircase made a turn and she caught sight of them. They were being help up in what looked like a storing room, closed up with thin bars. The woman seemed quite young - around her age, actually. She looked very sweet, with her golden hair and blue sundress. The man was sitting with his back to the wall, not looking too good. He was sweating profusely, and his shirt was drenched. The young woman spotted her first and jumped to her feet.

\- "Oh thank God! Did Bill send you?" was the very first thing she said, wrapping her fingers around the bars in her attempt to lean closer to Grace. Grace motioned for them to keep their voices down, and told them that no, she was a police officer and quickly explained how she had heard about them, before asking their names. One look at the lock told her that it was very basic, and that, unlike the ones on the doors she had just passed, it would be easy to pick. She put out her gun and bent over her boots to retrieve the knife she had hidden there. In a minute she was done. She started to leave, but the blonde grabbed her by the hand to hold her back.

\- "We can't just go! We need to get Godric first!" She protested firmly, crossing her arms under her chest.

\- "Oh for the love of God, let's just _leave_!" the man disagreed. He looked very annoyed with the whole situation. Something Grace found a bit rich, considering how, from what she had understood, he was responsible for that mess.

\- "Who's Godric?" she inquired worriedly. The last thing she needed right now was someone else to rescue.

\- "He's a vampire. He's been captured by the Fellowship of the Sun." _Bingo_. "They want to tie him to the church's altar as the sun rises, and watch him burn." She explained with a disgusted expression that Grace completely understood.

Knowing a vampire's strength, Grace wondered almost curiously how they had managed the feat of capturing him. But the next moment, curiosity vanished as she realized the amount of violence that would have been needed to _take_ him, let alone _keep_ him.

\- "How long has he been here? Do you know where he is being held?" she asked, dreading the state of the vampire.

The blonde - Sookie - shook her head.

\- "I don't know where he is – not even what he looks like. The only thing we know for sure is that he's somewhere in there. He was taken about two weeks ago."

_Oh God._ _Well_, _let's hope he's at least been fed_, she thought to herself, with both his sake and hers in mind. Although for some reason, she highly doubted that.

But before she worried about the vampire, she had to get those two out of here.

\- "Listen, you need to leave now." She told them urgently. "My cousin is standing at the front entrance of the church – go with her and drive as fast and as far away from here as you can. She _might_ refuse to come along with you, in that case you take her by force" she instructed, knowing her cousin.

\- "But –"

\- "_No buts_" she hissed. "I'll get the vampire. I'm trained for that kind of situation, and you'd only be slowing me down." _Harsh_, she thought, _but_ _true_. And efficient. "I'll give you the number of a detective at the Dallas Police Department. You have to call him as soon as you're in the car, and tell him the whole situation." She said as she picked up a pen from a shelf in the storing room to write down Davis' number on the blonde's forearm.

\- "You" she addressed the man, Hugo, with a dark look. "I hope nothing goes wrong because of you. There would be… consequences if something bad were to happen" she added delicately, hinting at danger. He swallowed hard and nodded. It was obvious he wanted nothing more than to be away from here, but better safe than sorry. Grace handed her knife over to the blonde, and watched as they ran up the stairs.

_Shiny_, she thought to herself for the second time of the night once they had left. She had no idea how to get to the vampire, no idea how she'd free him from his prison if she _did_ manage to get to him, since it would probably be heavily protected, and no idea how she'd be able to withstand him if she _did_ manage to free him.

She looked around her and spotted a small door to her right, and figured this may be a start.

Again, the door gave way easily, this time opening on a long corridor. She knew that this was a very bad idea. But she didn't have a choice. A glance to her wristwatch told her that it was now 2:30 AM, leaving very little time before dawn. And if they were planning to sacrifice him today… Well, very little time indeed.

She ran towards the end of the corridor, and after a hook to the left, found herself facing a _massive_ door that seemed made of _very_ _heavy_ metal. She knew at once that even if she used her full strength, she wouldn't be able to make it budge. She'd need the key.

\- "Hands over your head, missy." A male's voice said slowly behind her.

Ah. Well, she thought, that may either complicate things or make them easier.

She did as instructed and turned to see a big, bald man wearing an overlarge dark blue sweater standing a few steps away with a gun pointed to her face.

\- "Hello" she said genially. "Big door there, eh? Any chance you might have the key to it?" she inquired pleasantly.

The man didn't bother to answer.

\- "That goddam vampire sure has lots of hot puss looking for him" he said instead, looking her up and down with a gleam in his eyes that she didn't quite like.

She let the insult pass, however, hoping he'd get close to her so that she could have a shot at disarming him. But the man started stepping backwards, jerking the gun to indicate she should follow. They walked like that until they reached the room where Sookie and Hugo had been held captive.

Once in there, the man dropped his gun as he allowed a grin to spread over his brutish features.

\- "You fang-banging slut. You're going to lie down for me, now." He growled, before he lunged at her.

_Seriously_, _how savage can these people get_? Grace wondered in disbelief. She grabbed the fabric of his sweater just as he was about to seize her, using her shoulder as leverage, and, taking advantage of his own speed and weight, she easily threw him onto the ground. The moment his back made contact, she straddled him, pinning his legs and arms to the floor with her own limbs.

\- "So who's lying down for who, now?" she asked through gritted teeth. The man was struggling to free himself, but there was precious little he could do against her.

\- "You - fucking - vampire bitch!" he spat, giving her a feeling of _déjà vu_.

\- "Really, I don't know what it is that make men call me a vampire whenever I overpower them. Isn't it obvious that if I were one, you'd already be either dead or dying?" She said matter-of-factly.

But to be fair, this time, the reference was justified. Given their respective size and weight, and even with all the physical training in the world, it should have been impossible for her to hold him down. In such situations, Grace was truly grateful for her specificity.

\- "Anyways, how do I open that door?" she asked. He didn't answer. She hadn't really expected him to. Hye Na was right: these people were dangerous fanatics, and fanatics would rather die than betray their cause. When they didn't actually _choose_ to die for their cause.

\- "You can torture me all you want, slut - I'm not saying anything." He said loudly but a tad bit breathlessly as he fought to escape her clutch.

Grace rolled her eyes. The situation was getting really dramatic.

\- "Chillax! Just because you're a rotten little thing doesn't mean we all are. I'm not going to hurt you." She said soothingly.

But he didn't hear her. He was too busy shouting insults at her again, mostly involving graphic details about her alleged sex life with vampires. Well insults – compliments really, given how the descriptions sounded like an ode to her endurance and flexibility. But after a few civilized attempts at making him shut up of his own accord, she decided she'd had enough of his imagination.

Grace jumped on her feet, allowing the man to free himself. In a second he was on his knees, struggling to get to his feet, but Grace clenched her fingers into a tight fist which she hammered down onto his head, knocking him out. Inhaling deeply, she took a moment to enjoy the silence.

Just as she was about to search his pockets to check whether he was carrying the key, she felt a prickling sensation at the back of her neck. _Another presence,_ she realized, and she jumped to face it, adopting a defensive stance.

To find herself staring at the sheriff.

He, on the other hand, wasn't looking at her. He was looking down at the man on the ground.

On the two occasions when she had met the vampire, she'd scarcely been able to read any expression on his face. However, that hadn't scared her. Made her feel uneasy, sure, but not afraid.

Now, although he had the same blank expression, there was something cold in his eyes that she couldn't quite identify. A shadow that made them distinctly darker. He was standing with his back straight, his arms crossed over his chest, hovering over the body, and she was struck by the power that seemed to radiate from him.

He definitely looked threatening. Her instincts kicked in, and she took a step backwards, muscles bending in anticipation.

But the next moment his gaze switched to her, and the overwhelming aura he was giving off a second before vanished. His eyes were back to their usual clear color - but he looked terrible.

He was extremely pale, even more so than on the two occasions she had met him. His skin had a powdery texture, his eyelids a reddish tinge, and there were dark shadows around his eyes that made him looked like he hadn't rested in days.

\- "Oh my God - are you OK?" she inquired as concern washed over her, and she impulsively took a couple of steps in his direction. "How long have you been in there? What have they done to you?" she fired at him.

He didn't answer, nor did he make a move, and she felt the urge to check him out for wounds. Raising a reckless little brother, whose love for dangerous situations had already sent him to the ER too many times for his short life, tended to develop certain automatisms, she reckoned. But the vampire didn't look like the touchy type, and she doubted he'd be content to have her examine him. So she only allowed her eyes to travel over the skin that was showing, and when she didn't see any wounds she felt slightly better - before remembering that as a vampire, he'd probably have recovered by now even if he had been tortured. But vampires' clothes didn't clean themselves up, she thought, and at least, she couldn't see any blood on his.

\- "Are you OK"? she repeated her question gently.

\- "I am fine." He said, so quietly she barely heard. "But you should not have come here." He added.

Well, that wasn't the reaction she had expected. Not that she knew what reaction she had expected, now that she thought about it.

\- "I didn't come for you. I didn't know you were held there, actually, until – "

\- "I know" he interrupted "I heard. But you should not have stayed for me. You should have left with the others." He sounded somewhat cold - even accusing, she realized. This reaction, as well as his obvious lack of concern for his own health, annoyed her.

\- "Well, maybe you'd be happy to rescue vampires and leave the humans behind to be slaughtered. But I'm afraid I'm not that kind of person." She snapped.

At that, the coldness seemed to wash away from his face, leaving only fatigue behind, and her heart softened again.

\- "I only meant that you should not have placed yourself into danger for my sake. I apologize if my words made you feel insulted." He offered, bowing his head slightly, and she nodded in acknowledgement.

\- "No, I'm the one who should apologize. You've been captive for two weeks, and I just barge in and jump at you throat like - er …" Grace interrupted herself, wanting to smack herself for saying something so obviously inappropriate.

\- "Like a vampire?" he offered graciously, and she was surprised that he didn't sound remotely angry, nor offended. If anything, there was a gleam in his eyes that _might_ just have been humour.

At that, and for the first time since she had arrived at the church, Grace smiled, and her eyes rested over him once more. On their first two encounters, he had been wearing rather loose clothes, and she had had other things in mind than checking him out. Now that she was feeling more relaxed, however, she noticed that his white shirt hung perfectly over his broad shoulders, and that his sleeves were rolled up to reveal nicely muscled arms. She caught sight of the tattoos on his biceps, and then the one peaking from under the collar of his shirt. He hadn't struck her as the "tattoo type", which made her wonder why he had gotten them, and whether they had a specific meaning. They did have a certain mystery to them that intrigued her, unlike other tattoos, which she usually didn't find very attractive - if not downright ridiculous.

But then she was jerked from her thoughts as the sound of an alarm going off erupted loudly in to the room, and throughout the whole church.

* * *

Quick update - but the next chapter may take a bit more time since it'll be Godric's POV and he's not that easy to write ;) But I'll try my best to do him justice!

Until then, reviews are very very welcome ^_^


	6. Inside the sanctuary

Godric looked up at the ceiling as a blue light fell over them, the alarm resonating in the room in a deafening sound, before looking down again at the petite woman in front of him.

\- "Come. I will get you out of here." He instructed with the tone of command that came to him so easily, seeing as how he had been issuing orders for decades. He led the way towards the exit, naturally expecting her to follow in his steps. But instead -

\- "No." She said flatly, shaking her head, and Godric was slightly taken aback. "No" wasn't an answer he had heard in a _very_ long time. Not even from Stan - who certainly protested a great deal, yet never actually failed to follow a direct order.

But then it dawned on him that she, as a _human_, may not have been pleased to be ordered around by a _vampire_, no matter his position in his own kind's hierarchy. After all, his authority didn't extend to humans – and the current situation was a sad reminder of it.

\- "I am sorry if I sounded like I was giving you an order," he offered sincerely, "but given the circumstances, I believe it would be best for your own safety to do as I say." _Better_?

Apparently not, since the detective only rolled her eyes.

\- "I wasn't minding the order, sheriff. It's just that it's you they want, meaning that you have to get out as fast as possible. And since I can't keep up with your pace, you need to go on without me." She explained patiently, as if this were the most obvious thing in the world. But when he didn't move, her smile faltered. "_Now_!" she added, urgently this time, glancing towards the door with apprehension, as if fearing that someone may come in at any moment.

But he couldn't leave her behind. Freeing the two humans was one thing, but she had also freed him, knocking out that Gabe man in the process. As such, she had associated herself with him in the twisted minds of the members of the Fellowship. And he feared he knew exactly what that might entail for her if they were to catch her.

Maybe he should carry her out of the church, he pondered, taking in her short size. Yes, that would be the easiest. He couldn't use his full speed while carrying someone, but he would still be going much faster than she would on her own.

\- "Don't even think about it." She said levelly, and Godric blinked in surprise. Had he spoken out loud, or had she heard his thoughts? From what he had heard since the two other humans had been brought into the crypt, the woman could read minds, which was why Eric had sent her to look for him. Maybe this one had similar abilities.

\- "Sheriff," she went on "this effin' mess arose because of humans. So now humans _have_ to intervene. Because if we don't, it will give the signal that we either can't detect crimes against vampires, or won't bother to deal with them. In both cases, it will only make humans feel more secure to do with vampires as the Fellowship did with you. Which will cause vampires to retaliate. So, all in all, without wanting to sound dramatic - that'll end up _bad_." She deadpanned.

Godric remained silent. He hadn't thought about that – but now that he did, he could see that she had a point. But this didn't change the fact that she couldn't deal with them alone, and he told her so. Her answer wasn't quite what he expected.

\- "I know." She agreed calmly. "But I have informed detective Davis – I've told you about him already – as soon as I found out that Sookie and Hugo were here." She picked her phone from her pocket, and waived it in front of her. "And I told Sookie to call him as soon as they got out, to let him know just how bad things were." She added as she put it away again. "I dare say he's coming with suitable back-up."

Godric surveyed her carefully for a moment. He had to admit, she had thought things out rather well for a human, especially one this young.

Unfortunately, there was a rather large gap in her plan.

\- "If they find you before he arrives, they will kill you. Two random witnesses on the run is one thing, but they cannot afford for a police officer to talk." He pointed out to her.

\- "I'll tell them that the police is on its way. If they kill me, they won't get away with it." She countered.

\- "Yes, they will. Because they will make it look like I was the one who slaughtered you on my way out." He replied sadly.

She blinked, and he knew she saw the truth in his words. And yet, she still looked stubbornly determined not to leave with him.

\- "Detective. You said you were not the kind of person to leave anyone behind – human or vampire." He repeated her words, and she looked confused, not understanding where he was getting at. "As it is, neither am I. But I will not force you to come with me if you say that you do not want to. So, please, allow me to carry you out." He pleaded quietly.

This young human was a proud one, he could tell. From what he had witnessed on their first encounter, the fact that she had single-handedly overpowered a vampire, and from her fight with Gabe, he knew that she was impossibly strong for a human. With such strength would come self-confidence, and with self-confidence often came pride. Obviously, she had no problems with rescuing others, while greatly disliking the idea of being the one rescued.

But she was also a rational one. Her reaction when he had come to claim the vampire at the police station, and the way she had just handled their discussion as if it were a negotiation, where each of them offered arguments in turns to back up their position, were evidence of that. And his plan certainly made more sense than her stubborn insistence to get out of here on her own.

And so, he watched as conflicted emotions crossed her features, Pride and Reason obviously battling inside of her, until apparently Reason won. She clenched her jaws and walked towards him with a very reluctant look in her eyes, until she was standing in front of him.

The next moment, he had scooped her up in his arms.

The one after that, however, she was yelping in shock, slamming an open hand against his chest to get away from him. Once she was back on the ground, she hissed at him – she actually _hissed_ – her cheeks red and her black eyes glistening with anger, as if he had just done something extremely offensive.

Godric felt slightly confused. What could he have done to cause this reaction? He was positive he hadn't touched any inappropriate part of her anatomy – he had made sure of it.

"NOT bridal style!" she snapped as an explanation, her hands flying to her hips in indignation. But this only served to increase his confusion. Bridal style?

He simply stood there, not knowing exactly what to do - a situation he couldn't remember having happened to him in the last past decades.

Upon seeing the expression on his face, however, her anger seemed to recede and she even looked somewhat ashamed of herself.

\- "Sorry – I just wasn't expecting you to do that." She muttered as she nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Turn around, please. It'll be, er, more comfortable if I climb on your back."

And that was the final stroke for the old vampire. _Why couldn't she just have asked from the start_?

Godric left her far enough from the church so that she wouldn't be spotted by the members of the Fellowship, who had started assembling in there at the news of his escape, yet close enough so that she could watch the situation while she waited for the police.

Less than 10 minutes later, he was back home. When he entered the living room, he saw Isabelle and Eric standing there, engrossed in what seemed to be a heated argument.

\- "Sheriff! Oh, thank God!" his second in command exclaimed, and the intense relief that seemed to wash over her was truly more than he deserved. He couldn't help the small smile that tugged at his lips at that.

The Viking's reaction couldn't have been more different.

\- "Godric." He said simply, his eyes widening in awe. Then, he bowed his head slightly as he slowly sank to one knee. It truly had been a very long time since he had seen his progeny, the ancient vampire reflected. He had forgotten how deferential Eric could be - at times.

But then he noticed his other lieutenant's absence, and the smile was gone from his face.

\- "Where is Stan?" He inquired quietly.

The blond and brunette vampires exchanged looks that spoke volumes.

\- "We don't know, sheriff." His underling admitted, her eyes dropping to the floor in shame. "He's not in the house, and he won't answer his phone. Eric and I believe he must be having a drink with a couple of nest mates, however we were disagreeing over what Stan "having a drink" may entail…" Her voice trailed away delicately.

The old vampire's face darkened as he wondered whether the cowboy was scheming something. He knew his underling's taste for violence. However, Godric had always been able to contain him, and since despite his prolonged absence, Stan hadn't attacked the Fellowship, it seemed that Isabelle had been able to do the same. There was really no reason for him to choose this particular night to misbehave. But the sheriff wouldn't risk it.

\- "We need to find him. Check his usual hideouts while I contact his closest mates." He ordered. Godric was less than fond of the places where Stan usually spent his leisurely time, and he wouldn't step in there unless the circumstances urgently required it.

Before any of them could leave, however, a member of his staff - Javier - came into the room carrying a phone.

\- "Sheriff – you're back!" He exclaimed excitedly as he spotted his sheriff, before remembering what he had come for. "Detective Davis is on the line for you, Isabelle."

Godric stilled upon hearing that piece of news. If the detective had informed Davis of the situation as soon as she had found the captive humans, and given the time that had since passed, Davis should have already arrived at the church. So why would he be calling Isabelle _now_ \- unless something was happening there that was involving vampires? Godric mused. And just when Stan had gone missing…

\- "Tell him this is not a right time." His second answered with an impatient waive of her hand, and Javier turned on his heels, but before he could leave the room, Godric had caught up with him and snatched the phone.

After his encounter with detective Park at the police station, Godric had sent a human to Davis to inform the older detective that he'd let him know how the vampire responsible for the attacks on humans was going to be treated. And he had told Isabelle about his wish to cooperate with the human police on this specific case.

However, he had been taken by the Fellowship just after that, and hadn't been able to meet Davis himself. But if the man's name was spoken with such familiarity in his home, it meant that Isabelle had carried on with his plan. He was glad that this one, at least, seemed to have worked out well.

\- "Detective Davis. This is the sheriff speaking." He said simply.

\- "Well sheriff, we have a problem." The human detective informed him sharply. This man didn't beat about the bush.

\- "More precisely, we have a bunch of vampires who just barged into the Fellowship of the Sun's church, before we could do anything to stop them. Park convinced me to call my contact at your office in order to reach you, and not send armed men in there while she tried "_to hold the vampires from doing anything stupid" _\- her words - until you arrive."

From his tone, it was plain that the one doing something stupid right now was her. Godric, however, inwardly blessed the girl's brains.

\- "She assures me you'll deal with the situation." The older detective went on, and this time his voice had a suspicious edge to it, as if he was wondering where his protégé's trust in the vampire sheriff came from. And in all honesty, Godric wouldn't have been able to answer that question. "We have agreed on a signal that she is to give me if things get out of hand, so if you're not there when it happens… Well, let's hope things won't come to this." The detective finished.

The ancient vampire was used to dealing with all sorts of situations. So much that all of them had an air of _déjà vu_, and therefore failed to stir any emotions in him – or at least, not strong ones.

At the detective's second sentence, however, he felt anger. _Stan_. This time, he had gone too far. Godric had always managed to keep him from harming humans, but now he was going to have to deal with his underling, regardless of what happened tonight.

And at his third sentence, the feeling turned into an even more unusual one. For the very first time in - he couldn't remember how long - he felt something clench within him. He was actually dreading what might happen if he was too late.

In a flash, he was out of his home again, not bothering to check whether Eric and Isabelle were following. They wouldn't be able to keep up with his speed anyways.

The journey back to the church took him even less time that the one from it. When he reached the wide open doors of the sanctuary, he was faced with a situation more serious than he had expected.

Humans had assembled in there, armed with stakes and silver chains. Vampires were clinging to almost each of them, fangs out, but – was it uncertainty on their faces that seemed to be holding them from sinking their fangs into the humans' throats?

He had no time to reflect on that. He needed a place from which he could dominate both human and vampire, and put an end to that mess. He raised his eyes. They landed on the balcony. In less than a heartbeat, he was up there.

\- "Enough." He called out to all of them in a calm, yet powerful voice that carried throughout the sanctuary. Dozens of eyes rose to him at that, vampire and humans alike.

From his place, he could clearly see reverend Newlin standing near the altar, dressed in a suit of pure white, Stan holding him by the hair and jerking his head back at a rather dangerous angle, exposing his throat. Godric watched as his Adam apple went up and down, before allowing his eyes to sweep over the scene that lay beneath his feet.

Everyone seemed to be frozen in their position. He saw that the young detective stood facing the altar, and since she wasn't looking at him he could only see the back of her head. But he could tell from her stillness that she was listening to his words. His eyes travelled back to his lieutenant.

\- "You came for me, I assume." He stated flatly. "Underling?" He pressed when said vampire failed to give confirmation.

\- "Yes, sheriff." The cowboy acknowledged through gritted teeth.

\- "These people have not harmed me." He informed him. "You see, we can coexist." He added for everybody's benefit.

Then his eyes shifted to the reverend lying at his underling's feet.

\- "Mr. Newlin." He addressed him. "I do not wish to create bloodshed when it is uncalled for. Help me set an example. If we leave you in peace, will you do the same?" He tried to reason.

But as he had expected, the spiteful man was beyond hope.

\- "I will _not_ negotiate with sub-humans." He spat. "Kill me. Do it." He said, looking up at Stan while provocatively loosening the noose of his tie. "Jesus will protect me." He added, as he closed his eyes and raised his head towards the ceiling. Godric smothered an eye roll with difficulty.

\- "I'm actually older than your Jesus." He conversationally informed the reverend, whose eyes reopened at that, and he looked towards the ancient vampire. "I wish I could have known him. But I missed it." Godric said regretfully.

He _did_ wish he could have known the prophet – and yet, a part of him thought it was for the best that they had never met. Jesus had only been a human, after all, and the Godric from 2,000 years ago had been about as human-friendly as the Stan from the present days. And he had had no one to hold him back from his fits of violence.

But now wasn't the time to dwell on such memories. In a flash, he was standing right next to the reverend, snatching him away from Stand and holding him by the back of his suit so that he was facing the audience.

He heard the humans gasp in awe, and he looked up from the man in his hand. The detective was still standing right where she had been, which was now only a few feet away from him, arms crossed under her chest. She was surveying him with her head tilted slightly to one side and her eyebrows raised, but he couldn't read the expression on her face.

He shifted his gaze so as to embrace the whole assembly.

\- "Good people. Who of you is willing to die for this man's madness?" He asked rhetorically.

Everyone remained silent.

\- "That's what I thought." He said quietly, nodding to himself. Then, addressing the vampires, he ordered: "Stand down everyone."

To his left, he saw Stan roll his eyes as every other vampire retracted their fangs.

\- "People." He said, this time calling out to the human. "Go home. It's over now."

They scattered, and he could hear them whisper to each other as they went. He then pushed the reverend, who fell on his knees in front of him, and looked down at him.

\- "I dare say my faith in human kind is stronger than yours." He said with contempt.

At that he raised his eyes, and they fell on the young detective. She was looking down at the reverend with a disgusted look on her face – but he couldn't tell whether the expression was directed towards himself or the man lying at his feet. He hoped it wasn't the former.

Mainstreaming before the Great Revelation had been virtually impossible, which meant that Godric, like most vampires, had had to keep away from humans for his entire life. Except of course for the occasional hunting, feeding and fucking. The last activity, he hadn't pursued in years. The first two he had had to continue, but since the invention of True Blood, he had mostly fed on the synthetic liquid, since he didn't need much of it anyways. All together, he couldn't say that he knew any humans. There were some human figures he admired, of course, like Jesus – but he didn't _know_ them.

And now a human of flesh and blood was standing just in front of him that he was starting to respect. She had shown nerve, strength, intelligence, and her faith in him, although he couldn't explain it, had just prevented a slaughter. Which was why, although his conscience about was he had just done was clean, he felt he would be somewhat chagrined by her disapproval.

His gaze went from her to his lieutenant – or rather future ex-lieutenant – and simply said:

\- "Come."

\- "Sir." The cowboy protested. "After what these humans have done to you…"

\- "I said come." Godric interrupted in a quiet, yet final tone. He was not in a mood to discuss with Stan right now. Or to so much as listen to his voice, for that matter.

Stan went quiet and followed in his sheriff's steps. When they reached the entrance of the sanctuary, Godric saw Eric waiting for him, leaning against a pillar, his arms firmly crossed over his chest, accusation etched on his face.

The maker knew that his progeny must have been wounded when he had sped away from the living room, just after their reunion, and without so much as an explanation. One thousand years, and yet the Viking warrior could still act like such a baby vampire at times, Godric thought rather fondly.

\- "Child." He called out to him, allowing his affection to transpire in his voice, and the Viking's features softened. "Escort Stan back to the nest. Make sure he does not disappear again."

\- "Aren't you coming back there with us, Godric?" The taller vampire asked, his expression turning to surprise.

\- "I have unfinished business here. I will join you later." The older vampire answered simply.

\- "But the sun will be up in barely more than an hour!" His child protested, his overprotective tendencies towards his maker showing. "It's dangerous – "

However, before the giant blond could finish his sentence, a clear voice resonated behind him.

\- "Sheriff!" He turned to find himself face to face with the detective.

\- "Well, you made quite the entrance there… Sweeping in at the nick of time like that…" She said with a clouded expression. And then, her face broke into a smile so suddenly that he was slightly taken aback.

\- "Do you know what that makes you?" She inquired with good humour, and his confusion increased. What kind of question was that? When he failed to reply, she graciously offered the answer: "Well Sheriff - that makes you a big damn hero." Her eyes twinkled, and she gently tapped a hand to his shoulder.

He was so surprised by the familiarity of her expression and gesture that he didn't even see Eric's hand shoot towards hers.

The next moment, she was jumping backwards as his progeny snatched her wrist away from Godric and held it tightly.

\- "Do not. Presume. To touch him. With your filthy hands, _human._" He spat at her, and Godric almost almost torn between fondness and annoyance at this demonstration of his progeny's possessive nature.

But then he saw shock and pain spread over the detective's lovely features, and decided on annoyance as something twisted inside of him.

However, in a heartbeat her expression had turned to anger, which almost immediately vanished as she quickly groomed her features into a blank expression. Once more, he was impressed by her self-control.

Slowly, she looked down to his hand on her wrist, and then, slowly, her gaze travelled back up to his face.

\- "Let me go." She said calmly, but he didn't miss the cool edge in her voice.

At that, Godric was brought back to their first encounter. She had adopted a very similar expression and tone of voice when the big man – Joe – had seized her after she had instructed him to hand Godric his money back. Only, if she came to hands with Eric, she wouldn't end up having the upper hand this time.

So before the situation could worsen, Godric decided to intervene.

\- "Unhand her, Eric." He called out to his progeny wearily. He felt like he had issued this _exact_ same order to his child over a million times already. And when the taller vampire failed to comply with his order, he repeated, rather sharply this time: "Unhand. The detective." Eric blinked in surprise.

\- "Do you know this tiny human, Godric?" He inquired as he dropped his hand to his side submissively. Godric nearly smiled as the corner of his eye caught sight of said tiny human's expression upon hearing the adjective.

\- "Yes." The shorter vampire answered simply.

Eric looked at him expectantly, and Godric knew that his child was waiting for him to elaborate on the nature of his relationship with the human. But he didn't, and after a moment of unblinkingly looking into each other's eyes in silence, Eric didn't dare press the matter. With one dark, warning glance towards the detective, he super-sped away.

Godric turned to look at the young woman. Her eyes were lingering on the spot Eric had just vacated with a very annoyed look to them, but the moment she caught sight of him looking at her, she forced her features into a smile again.

\- "I apologize for his behaviour." He said truthfully.

\- "No harm done, Sheriff." She replied smoothly. "He wasn't among the ones who swamped the church tonight, so he definitely has that going for him. Plus, if a bunch of crazy lunatic vampires had just kidnapped my superior and planned to offer him as sacrifice to the god of vampires, and I had seen another one raise a hand to him, I may have had the same reaction." She seemed to ponder her own words for a second. "Well, no, I wouldn't – not without a word of warning first." She conceded.

_No_, Godric agreed. From what he had seen until now, she definitely wouldn't. Dimly, he wondered where the feeling of pride that stirred inside of him at this thought came from.

\- "But then again, not everyone can be the epitome of civilization that I am." She added in a mock tone of self-importance, pushing her hair away from her eyes with an exaggerated gesture, before flashing him another smile and winking at him.

This human was quite surprising. The first couple of times he had met her, and even that very night in the crypt, he had believed her to be the independent, quiet type. But now, he realized that when she wasn't in a life-threatening situation, she was, in fact, much more easy-going than he had imagined.

And that she had a truly charming smile.

\- "Girly!" A voice sharply interrupted his musings. He turned his eyes to the entrance of the church to see a young woman sprinting up the stairs and towards them. Tall, thin, elegantly dressed – definitely Asian. Or Eurasian, he thought as she got closer and he took in her green eyes and slightly less angular features.

\- "You, my dear, have got some explaining to do." The newcomer said with a scowl, as she resolutely crossed her arms under her chest.

Godric's look shifted back to the detective, just in time to catch her eye-roll. Her eyes met his, and she pointed towards the church's exit.

\- "You should leave, sheriff… This may take a while." She told him wearily. "Davis is outside, and I know he'd like to have a word with you" she added when he failed to go. Godric hesitated. He would have liked to ask her how she had managed the feat of keeping Stan and the other blood-thirsty vampires from slaughtering the humans until he arrived. And why she had trusted that he would come if called in the first place.

But then both girls were staring at him, one looking apologetic, the other furious, as if he were interrupting some private conversation. Which he found _a tad bit_ rich, since she was the one who had stormed in there while he and the detective were talking.

But he smothered the disappointment and irritation that were threatening to rise inside of him, and after inclining his head in farewell, took his leave from the young ladies.

As he stepped outside the church, his eyes fell upon the cars of police that were still gathered in a barrage, as the policemen were taking the statements of the human that had witnessed the scene. He inquired for detective Davis, and a blond, youthful looking officer pointed him towards an older man a bit further away. Godric took a moment to examine him. The man was in his early forties, he would have said, tall, lithely built, with light brown hair and deep blue eyes in a strong face. Godric supposed he could be described as quite alluring.

Once he arrived at the man's level, he was about to introduce himself, but after a single glance, the detective greeted him with a sharp nod.

\- "Sheriff. So we finally meet." He said in a somewhat guarded tone.

Godric blinked, wondering how the older man could have known who he was. But he didn't allow his surprise to show. And he was truly pleased that the detective didn't look him up and down disbelievingly, taking in his youthful-looking appearance, like most people did upon learning that he was the sheriff.

\- "Detective." He greeted the man back. "I've been told you wanted a word."

\- "I would like to take your statement. For the investigation." The man acknowledged.

\- "What will be happening now?" The old vampire inquired. He truly hadn't foreseen all the consequences of his actions when he had allowed the Fellowship of the Sun to take him, he realized.

\- "Bah." The detective shrugged. "We're charging the reverend with a couple of felonies – mostly false imprisonment. But he'll have a lawyer who'll get him out in not time. And we've given the witnesses a warning that next time they participate into such actions, there would be consequences." He paused, before adding: "Although I think your intervention made more of an impression on them than our warning." He said, surveying the sheriff through narrowed eyes.

\- "I never threatened them." Godric said quietly.

\- "I never said you had." The detective replied levelly. For a moment, the two of them only looked at each other in silence. Then the detective spoke again. "I will need to take your statement now." He said simply.

The vampire reflected on that. He really couldn't stay any longer: the sun was going to rise very soon, and he still had things to deal with once he got back home. He told the human so.

\- "But if _detective Park_ were to stop by at my office when the sun goes down, I would be happy to give it to her." He added, emphasizing the young woman's name. "I believe you know the address."

The man looked at him with a rather surprised, then suspicious look on his face. Then he shrugged and the expression was gone, which Godric took as an acknowledgment of the proposal.

The ancient vampire turned his gaze towards the church one last time before leaving. As he flashed away, he realized he didn't even know the young detective's first name.

* * *

That's it for the Fellowship of the Sun part!

Next chapter will cover the welcome-back party at Godric's place. I've already written it, but I don't want to publish it until I have written the one after, this way I can still make corrections.

**VampireElf14, zebra-scarf, xSealiee, **Xtyne,** Lil Miss Sunshine** thank you sooooo much for your support! Your reviews made me want to write faster AND better, because I feell like I have to keep up with your expectations :D

VampireElf14: I hope you'll find I didn't kill him off ;)


	7. Maker & Progeny

"Yes, it has to be done _tonight_." Davis repeated patiently, yet definitively, leaning back in his seat, his arms firmly crossed over his chest.

"But then, why meeeee?" Grace asked desperately, bringing a hand to her chest. She sounded whiny – she knew she did, but right now she didn't care.

"Becauuuuuuuuuse, it so happens that he specifically asked for you." The older detective deadpanned.

That surprised her so much that she remained quiet for a second, gaping slightly. But then she was frowning and asking her superior:

\- "Why?"

\- "Well, that is _just_ what I was about to ask you." He answered delicately.

\- "And how am I supposed to know? You're the one who talked this out with him." She retorted, somewhat exasperated with Davis. She wasn't in on the ancient vampire's mind, after all. He wasn't exactly big on sharing his thoughts - either verbally or in any other way.

But Davis didn't reply, only raised a sceptical eyebrow at her. She raised an interrogative eyebrow back at him. And then the implication behind his words dawned on her, and she raised her eyes to the ceiling. _Men..._

\- "We're not like that." She said dismissively. And when he didn't seem to believe her: "Sir, I'm serious." She insisted, looking him straight in the eyes. "There is nothing between us!" And now there was a hint of indignation in her voice, which Davis must have heard, because this time he seemed to take her word.

\- "I see that. The question is, does _he_?" He asked quietly.

It was her turn to remain silent. The vampire really hadn't given the slightest indication that he might be interested in her, so why she?

\- "Because he trusts me?" She hazarded.

\- "... You do realize that you just phrased this as a question and not as an answer, right?" Her superior didn't fail to point out.

Grace took a moment before elaborating on her answer.

\- "I don't trust easily - vampires least of all, I can assure you. But if there is _one_ vampire that I might be ready to rely upon, it's him. Because until now, what I have seen of his behaviour towards humans has truly been irreproachable. And I think that the reason he asked for me may be because he feels the same about how I've been reacting towards vampires."

He seemed to consider that, then simply shrugged, and started to rise from his seat, indicating that she should leave, but she decided that it was time to speak out something that had been on her mind for a while now.

\- "Sir..." She started hesitantly, and he looked down at her questioningly as he sat back down. "I've been thinking about the events from two weeks ago and yesterday. And I think they have proved that we can't keep doing things the way we have until now..." She paused, pondering for words. "I mean, each species working separately, and ignoring the other like the Great Revelation never happened. I think that we need to work together - not only to save the day when problems show up, but to prevent them from arising in the first place." She finished more firmly.

Davis sunk deeper in his seat and tilted his head back, resting his eyes upon the ceiling.

\- "You're talking about working with the vampire police on a... permanent basis." He stated.

\- "Yes, I am." She replied without missing a beat. "Don't you agree with the reasoning, Sir?"

He closed his eyes and remained quiet for so long he might have been asleep if it weren't for the small crease between his eyebrows that indicated he was doing some thinking.

\- "It's not up to me, Park." The older detective finally answered as he opened his eyes again, circumventing her question. "It's something that must be discussed at a higher level." He sounded somewhat weary.

\- "Deputy Chief Morris trusts you. He'd never listen to _me_ \- but if _you_ suggest it, he'll hear you out." Davis remained quiet. "I could ask the sheriff about his feeling on the idea tonight, and tell him to contact you about it." She added.

He held her stare in silence, before giving a sharp nod.

\- "I'll see what I can do to plant the idea. In the meantime, you be very careful Park." He said, and she heard the concern in his voice.

She assured him she would, then took her leave. As she went back to her desk and sank into her chair, she allowed herself to wallow in self-pity for a moment.

She was exhausted from the previous night's events - she truly was. The stress of the situation had taken its toll, and she had only had precious few hours of sleep to recover. Today was Saturday and she wasn't supposed to be on duty. She should have been able to sleep in, but because of the mess, she had had to come to the station.

When she had arrived, Davis had informed her that she would need to go to the sheriff's office, to take his and Sookie Stackhouse's statement about their abduction by the Fellowship. She hadn't minded. But then he had insisted she did it tonight, and _that_ she found truly unfair. Why didn't Davis just send one of the police officers who were on duty that night? She had plans, for God's sake!

OK, nothing much. She was supposed to take her brother and sister to the movies, and then to have sushis together. So, nothing very exciting. But she had really been looking forward to it. She missed her two little devils, life seemed awfully lonely without them.

But then she brought her hands to her cheeks and slapped them lightly a few times, before taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly. There was no use wasting time whining over a decision that had already been taken. Instead, she let her thoughts trail over what had happened in the sanctuary.

Han could fly, but she had only ever seen him do so a couple of times. After all, he couldn't teach her how to fly, since this ability wasn't one that she had inherited from him. So he hadn't bothered to demonstrate it too many times.

Which was why it had come as such a shock when suddenly the sheriff had called out to them all from the balcony. One second, he was nowhere to be seen. The next one he was standing up there, in his white shirt and pants, his back straight, his feet apart, his fists clenched, looking down at them with his signature blank face, and addressing them all like a king did the subjects sprawled at his feet.

She had been truly impressed then, she had to admit. Which was why she had hastily snatched her eyes away from him and turned her face back to the altar. Having been carried out of the church on his back had already been embarrassing enough, the last thing she wanted after that was for him to see her dumbly gaping at him.

But during his speech, she had had time to collect herself again. So what if he could fly, and so what if he was two freaking thousand years old? To be honest, she felt sorry for him more than anything else.

On their first encounters, she had believed he purposefully wore a poker face, to hide his thoughts and emotions. She herself did that a lot with the people that she didn't know or didn't trust, after all.

But what if he failed to reflect emotions, not because he was hiding them, but because he didn't feel any? _Older than Jesus…_ How could life possibly taste after all that time? There were songs that Grace could listen to all day long, for days at a time. But after the 1,000th time, she simply became fed up and couldn't stand to hear them again. Was that what his life was? A series of things he had experienced too many times, until they held no savour anymore - when they didn't become downright unbearable?

Yet he kept doing the right thing, or at least trying to. And she, for one, knew how hard it could be sometimes.

Which was why, all in all, she found him half-creepy and half-endearing. His unblinking gaze and unreadable face made a part of her want to stay away from him. But they made the other want to hug him and tell him that he really didn't have to be so grave. After the events in the crypt and in the sanctuary, that last part was starting to win over. And when she had treated him with spontaneous familiarity, he hadn't seemed to mind. He had seemed taken aback all right, but not offended, nor angry, nor even displeased.

With a sigh, she decided it was time to leave. As she grabbed her stuff, she realized that tonight would be the first time she would see him, not by chance, but by way of an arranged meeting. She wondered if she was supposed to dress up, but immediately decided against it. It was only work, she'd go in her usual clothes, otherwise it would seem like a date or something weird.

At 9:00 PM sharp, she was standing outside the gardens that were surrounding the grand house where Davis had told her the sheriff lived. _You've got to be kidding me_, she thought to herself, feeling slightly dwarfed. Her apartment looked tiny in comparison, and she was glad she'd never have a reason to invite him in. Shaking her head, she stepped inside the premises.

When she arrived outside the house, she was faced with a big plate glass window, through which she could see a great number of people talking, laughing and holding drinks. By the look of it, the sheriff was holding a party. A goddam _vampire_ party too, she thought as her stare shifted to the big table that supported the drinks, and took in the number of empty True Blood bottles.

_Well, fuck._

She may feel cordially towards him but that did NOT extend to the rest of his kind. Only, she couldn't go back empty handed. She privately cursed him, and Davis for agreeing to send her, before stepping into the house. She found herself in the spacious room that she had been able to see through the plate glass, and started steering her way through all the people assembled there.

\- "Excuse me!" She randomly addressed a young man upon noticing that his glass seemed to be filled with orange liquid, an unmistakable tell-tale of his humanity. "I need to talk to the sheriff. Do you know where I might find him?" She asked.

\- "You and a dozen other people, honey." He answered in a drawling voice. "He's in there" he added, gesturing to the back of the room. She noticed that the wall to her left did have a big opening that seemed to lead to a second room.

She went over there, and took a moment to process the scene in front of her. The sheriff was sitting in a big chair, his hands clasped in his lap and facing him stood a long, long line of people who looked like they were all waiting to talk to him.

_You've got to be kidding me_, she thought again, almost desperately this time. She didn't very well see how she could cut through the line without bringing thunderous vampire hatred upon herself, and waiting for it to end would take… Well, she didn't really know, but in any case longer than she cared for.

Her eyes travelled back over to him. He was dressed in a long-sleeved, dark grey shirt, and he looked much less God-like in this attire than in his pure white one. His tattoos were not showing, which also contributed to decreasing his mysterious aura.

He looked slightly more rested than the night before, but still had that reddish tinge around his eyes. And he looked so bored she thought she might cry for him. His gaze was unfocused, and he barely smiled or nodded to the people that had come to offer their greetings. She couldn't say that she didn't understand. If she had just been through what the sheriff had been through, she personally would never have put up with a welcome-back party so shortly after her safe return.

But then again, _he_ was a 2,000 years old vampire – and an important authority at that.

She turned her back to him and stepped away from the room - the sight of the drained-looking sheriff surrounded by his – subjects? made her feel slightly sick. But then she heard a voice that she thought she recognized, and her heart sank.

\- "Well, well, well. If this isn't miss perfect porcelain doll." She turned slowly aaaaaand BINGO! There stood, dressed in a black undershirt and black jeans, his arms crossed over his chest, the tall, blond, handsome vampire who'd jumped at her throat – not literally, though – the night before for daring to touch his precious sheriff. Who had called her a "filthy" and then a "tiny human", she recalled. What a lack of manners, she thought, annoyed. Eric, the sheriff had called him.

\- "Why, Mr. Eric!" She greeted him, forcing her lips into her most charming smile. "Fancy meeting you there!" She stated genially. "Nice party – I think I'll go get myself a drink." She added as pleasantly as she could, spinning on her heels as she meant to leave, only to be caught by the wrist – again! – and jerked back violently. She was about to protest when -

\- "What is the nature of your relationship with Godric?" He inquired curiously, surveying her through unblinking eyes.

She was so taken aback by the question that she forgot to snap at him. She just stared.

\- "Sorry – what?" Was all she could manage. She watched as the tall vampire's eyes travelled from her head to her feet then back to her eyes.

\- "I guess you're his type." He said slowly, letting go of her to raise a finger to his lips as he followed his own trail of thoughts. "Godric always did enjoy playing with delicate little things." He added, his head cocked slightly to the right. "But don't let yourself get too comfortable. They usually don't last long - and in any case, they tend to bore him after a _very_ short fashion." And this time, there was an evil gleam in his eyes.

OK, first: ew! And second: she, a delicate little thing?

Grace hadn't reacted the night before, when he had called her "filthy" and "tiny" and had forcefully snatched her wrist, because given the circumstances she truly had understood him being protective of his leader. But now that all was fine, he really didn't have this excuse anymore. So she was going to confront him about mistreating and insulting women – or humans in general, really – when his hand on her throat smothered the well thought-out words that she was going to fling at him.

Her heart missed a bit as fear gripped it that he was about to sink his fangs in her neck. However, he seemed content to only examine that part of her anatomy.

\- "Mmmmm... No bite marks..." He muttered as if to himself. And at that, he let her go so abruptly that she nearly stumbled to the floor. "Well then I guess you're not his. Godric would never heal his bite marks." Eric now sounded bored and was looking supremely disinterested with her.

...

HIS? First Davis, now this little son of a bitch - that was too much. As if she'd _ever_ screw a vampire, or allow one to bite her. Grace clenched her fists so hard that she could feel her nails dig into the palm of her hand.

_Control yourself, girl._ She ordered herself. _You're surrounded by vampires_.

\- "Leave her alone, Eric." A voice interrupted her musings. She turned her head to see that a seemingly seething Sookie Stackhouse was giving Eric a very dark look. She was standing near a black-haired vampire, by the colour - or lack thereof - of his face, and who looked just as displeased with the tall blond's behaviour.

\- "Exactly. Leave me alone, Eric." Grace repeated the Sookie's words sarcastically, before looking into the girl's eyes. "I need to talk to you, if you have a minute?" She pleaded.

\- "Of course!" The blonde chirped with an easy smile, which turned into a glare as she looked once more at the tall vampire, then back into a smiled as she met Grace's eyes again. Grace could see the small gap between her front teeth and that made her smile in turn. She decided that she liked that girl. Everything about her shouted "sweetheart", and yet, she had guts. She grabbed the blonde's elbow to steer her to a quieter place.

\- "Look, I need to ask you a few questions about what happened in the crypt … I know that now may not seem like a right time for you, but I really need to do this." She said as gently as she could.

But before the young woman could answer, Eric was holding her by the back of her jacket, pulling her to him so forcefully that she nearly fell on her butt.

It wasn't exactly an act of violence. He hadn't hit her, nor had he bared his fangs - which was the ultimate vampire threat, she knew.

But Eric had been playing around with her, jerking her forward and backwards effortlessly, as if she were his personal rag doll, since they had met. And as she fought to remain on her feet, a memory from ten years ago flashed in front of her eyes. A memory from that night when she had been dragged to the ground in a very similar fashion, and hadn't been able to do _anything_ but watch as the aggressor had casually stepped over her and onto her parents.

She was never going to let another vampire bring her down again - not in any sense of the term.

In a second, she had shrugged free of her jacket, spun on her heels, and launched her arm towards his face, index and forefinger extended. And then, abruptly, she forced her arm to come to a halt, stopping so close to Eric's eyeballs that when he blinked, she felt his eyelashes brush against the tip of her fingers.

\- "Do not. Presume. To touch me. With your filthy hands, vampire." She uttered through gritted teeth, repeating word for word what he had spat at her the night before, when she had touched the sheriff.

At that, she lowered her arm, and realized the room had gone awfully quiet and that a good dozen pair of eyes were fixed upon her. Maybe the "filthy vampire" part hadn't been too clever. But then again, the whole idea of stepping into this party hadn't been too clever.

She wanted to leave right now, but there were too many vampires standing between her and the exit. One was bound to reach her before she was out -probably Eric himself, once the shock of having his eyes nearly punctured by a mere human turned into anger - and she wasn't going to be caught running away from them like a little mouse running away from a cat.

Besides, she had come here tonight to get a job done, and no fanger was going to prevent her from doing just that.

And so, she clenched her teeth and, bringing herself to her full size (which was still considerably lower than Erics) she passed him without so much as a look. She was determined to go back to the room where Godric had been, and talk to him _right now_. She could always tell the vampires who stood in line to screw themselves - after all, she had messed with Eric already, so she may as well be in for a pound as for a penny. And he may be their sheriff, but she was entitled to talking to him first since he hadn't bothered to let her now that she'd be walking straight into a cosy vampire get-together.

However, she had barely taken a step that she noticed Godric standing under the wall opening between the main room and the one where he'd been sitting, surveying her with such an intense stare that something clenched in her throat and she froze in her steps. But then, the look was replaced by his usual one, and she stepped closer to him in a deliberately slow pace.

\- "Enjoying the distraction, sheriff?" She said smoothly, trying not to snap. She felt betrayed that he had witnessed the commotion without bothering to intervene. And before he could answer: "I have a few questions for you if you don't mind." She said in a business-like voice.

\- "Detective." He greeted her quietly. "I believe that once again, I have to apologize for Eric's behaviour." He said simply, which, for some reason, irritated her more than anything else.

\- "It's quite all right." She said in a dignified tone, as she pushed her bangs back. "You're only his sheriff - you can't be held liable for the behaviour of all the vampires in your area." She added, while privately completely blaming him for the whole situation. Why wasn't he giving the savage blond a well-felt scolding instead of apologizing in his stead? Was he waiting for the inevitable to happen? "Anyways, let's start with -"

\- "But in his case I am afraid I truly am responsible." He interrupted with a faraway stare and sad smile that made her forget that she was annoyed with him.

\- "How so?" She asked sceptically.

Godric remained silent for a while. He crossed his arms over his chest, tilted his head backwards a little, and his eyes settled on the ceiling. Just when Grace thought he wasn't going to answer, he said quietly, as if to himself:

\- "In human terms, I'm the closest thing he has to a parent."

Grace gaped.

\- "You're his _maker_?" she exclaimed. At that, the sheriff became very still, and his eyes slowly travelled down to meet hers. Grace refrained the urge to press a palm to her face.

Vampires scarcely ever discussed that topic with humans. They discussed the effect of sunlight and silver on vampires, sure, and sometimes the effect of vampire blood on humans. But the creation of vampires was considered a very touchy subject. Vampires only discussed it with the humans closest to them – when they discussed it at all.

And now, she had just betrayed that she knew what the vampire equivalent of a parent was. Which meant that she had just given away the fact that she was probably very close to a vampire.

She expected him to press the matter, which she really didn't want him to. Han had told her about makers and progeny, and about the extraordinary strong bond between them, which was the reason why he himself had always refused to become a maker. But if the sheriff asked her how she knew about that, she'd have to decline to answer. She didn't want to lie to Godric, but she could not talk about Han. He had spent his life avoiding other vampires, and after all he had done for her, she wasn't going to be the one who dragged him back into their midst.

However, the sheriff only surveyed her through his eyelashes for a very long moment. And when he spoke again, he simply said:

\- "Yes. I am his maker."

Grace let out a sigh at that. She felt both relieved and grateful. The only reason he didn't ask was because he must have sensed her reluctance. That was very tactful of him, she thought, and she showed her appreciation by offering him a small, somewhat apologetic smile.

She would have liked to ask how a great vampire like him could possibly have made such a brat as Eric, but she really couldn't keep discussing the subject.

\- "So, tell me about the night you were abducted. What were you -"

But then, their conversation was interrupted when a door was kicked open to their right, and a woman came in. She was dressed all in black, with high-heel boots and had raven black hair held in a stylish hairdo. Grace would have thought she looked incredibly alluring, if she hadn't been dragging a man by the scruff of his shirt. With horror, she realized that he was Hugo. Impulsively she took a step forward, but then the sheriff pressed his fingers to her forearm and she stopped in her tracks.

\- "Who's that?" She asked quietly.

\- "My second in command, Isabel. Get behind me." He instructed her shortly, in an almost inaudible whisper, his eyes not leaving the advancing woman. She did as he said, until she bumped into someone. She jumped slightly – but it proved to be only Sookie. Together, they turned their stare to the scene playing in front of them.

When the woman-in-black had arrived in front of the sheriff, she kicked Hugo to the floor.

\- "This is the man who betrayed us." She stated through gritted teeth, and Grace thought she heard her voice waver slightly as she spoke.

Godric had her back to her, so she couldn't see his face, but he seemed to take a look at the man, before his eyes travelled back up to his second.

\- "Hugo." The sheriff said neutrally. "He is your human, is he not?" He asked her.

\- "Yes he is." She answered in a rather high pitched voice, and Grace was shocked to see that there was a thin, red line on her cheeks that seemed to be running from her eyes. So vampires cried blood? Now, this was something she didn't know about them.

\- "Do you love him?" The sheriff asked, and Grace's eyes went straight back to his head. She wished she could see his expression – assuming he was supporting one. Because this was really, really, REALLY the last thing she would have expected him to say.

Apparently, the woman was thinking along the same lines, for her eyes travelled from the man at her feet to her sheriff in surprise, and for a moment she seemed at a loss for an answer.

\- "I…" She hesitated "I thought I did." Another bead of red liquid spilled from her eyes, and then her face was scrunched up, as if she was trying to contain her tears.

\- "It appears you love him still." The sheriff stated.

\- "I do. I love him. I'm sorry." She sniffed. "But you are my sheriff. Do with him as you please." She said, and she appeared to be steeling herself as if she were about to take a blow.

And as Grace watched, emotions washed over her.

The cop in her was seething. Han had told her that the vampire sheriff was a law enforcement authority. But he hadn't said that he also had judicial powers.

Vampires may be OK with living in the Middle Ages, that was really none of her business. But for humans this was the 21st century, this was America, and this was a democracy. And in a democracy, a policeman certainly did NOT pass judgment.

She was in a vampire's home, surrounded by vampires, and interrupting would bring nothing good for anyone - Hugo least of all - so she swallowed her objections. But the man in front of Godric was a human, so she couldn't care less what he decided tonight: she would make sure that no penalty was going to be imposed on him without a regular trial.

And then, her gaze fell on Isabel again, and she felt heartbroken at the sight of this beautiful, proud woman standing in tears in front of a whole audience, torn between her loyalty towards her sheriff, and her love for the man at her feet.

_Damn_, she thought. Vampires were powerful. They were fast. They didn't age, and could heal in a minute.

But the scene playing in front of her was proof that vampires were far from invulnerable. That they loved just like humans did. And that they grieved just like humans did. Maybe even more - the higher you are, the harder you fall, after all.

And Grace was thankful for that reminder, because really, tonight, keeping her own prejudices at bay wasn't that simple.

At that very moment, the woman broke into tears, and as thick, red liquid poured from her eyes, Grace thought she had never seen anything sadder than this.

Grace could cry plenty in front of a movie or while reading a book, no matter whether there were onlookers or not, because it wasn't about her personal emotions.

When it came to her _own_ feelings, however, she was a very private person. She had no problem displaying happy ones, but didn't share the ones that made her feel vulnerable, except maybe with Hye Na. And she simply couldn't stand the idea of anyone witnessing her shed a tear for herself, her cousin included. It brought back bad memories.

Weirdly enough, she hadn't cried on the night her parents had died. At first, she had been too paralyzed by fear, and then when the pain had come she had lost consciousness. Nor until the funeral - she had felt too numb. But during the ceremony she had simply broken down. And at the end, when people had lined up to shake her hand and offer their condolences, she had simply stood there, choking on the tears _that just fucking wouldn't stop _as she tried to answer. She had felt like such a pitiful creature then that it had only strengthened her resolve to become stronger - not just physically, but also emotionally.

And now this woman was having her heart ripped open while people stood there and watched, just like her ten years ago.

Suddenly, she couldn't stand to be there anymore. So she turned away and left as quietly as she could, not wanting to cause another commotion. She thought she vaguely heard the sheriff say that the human was free to go, but she didn't even feel relieved at that.

When reached the entrance door, and stepped outside into the garden, she breathed in the fresh air of the night. One look to her watch told her that it was 10:15 PM. She sat on the grass and took her phone from her jeans' pocket before dialing her sister's number. Her sweet sister's voice answered, and Grace greeted her in their native language. She wasn't like Hye Na – she preferred speaking Korean with her family. Mina asked if anything was wrong and Grace said that no, she just wanted to say goodnight to her and their brother. And tell them that she loved them so much.

When she hung up, barely five minutes later, she saw Eric pass her by, Hugo walking at his side. She didn't rise to follow them. She felt so exhausted she thought she might spend the rest of the evening like that, just sitting on the grass.

A minute later, a pair of legs dressed in black planted itself firmly in front of her eyes. But she just closed them so that she wouldn't have to look at those legs. She didn't want to deal with their owner right now.

\- "Taking a nap, porcelain doll?" Eric's sarcastic voice called out from far above. _Fucking giant_, she thought, but she didn't bother to answer. He nudged her with his foot, but she didn't bother to react. Then there was a silence, and with her eyes closed, she thought he might have left. However, when she opened them again, they landed on his legs once more .

\- "You're not worthy of his attention." He said with contempt after a short while, and she rolled her eyes. She understood immediately who he was talking about. She didn't feel offended – she really couldn't care less whether she had Eric's regard or not.

But she was getting tired of being assaulted by him for a relationship that she was not having in the first place.

\- "I thought we had already established that I did _not_ have his attention." She replied neutrally, still not raising her head, but pointing at her neck, which he now knew was unmarked.

\- "Well, after reflection, I realized that I haven't exactly inspected _every_ place that could be marked." He said, in a fake delicate voice that made her raised her eyes to his. A lopsided grin was plastered on his face, humour dancing in his eyes as they travelled over her body once more.

Her exhaustion, as well as the fear and anger that she had felt and smothered that night, were stirring inside of her with a vengeance. She wanted nothing more than shoot a snappy retort right back at him.

But there was a time to act like a smart ass, and a time to lay low. She suspected that the only reason why Eric hadn't harmed her yet was because they were in his maker's home. But vampires were unstable, and there was really no telling what would push them too far.

So she took a deep breath, and when she felt confident that she was in control of herself, she slowly got to her feet before addressing him.

\- "Eric. I Am NOT having. ANY kind. Of physical interaction. With the sheriff." She clearly enunciated, as calmly as she could manage. "Why would such a powerful 2,000 years old vampire take interest in a plain, 24 year old human like me?" She shook her head as if to emphasize the ridiculousness of the idea, and went on: "It just so happens that our paths have crossed while we were both investigating the same case, he on the vampire side, and I on the human side. And I only came tonight to question him about his abduction. So you see, strictly business."

_Or can't your primitive little brain understand that just because I'm female and he's male, any interaction doesn't necessarily mean that we're fucking?_ But she kept that one to herself.

God, she thought, the sheriff may be attractive, but he was SO NOT worth the trouble of having to go over Eric. Honestly, this progeny was more efficient than a chastity belt to his maker.

Said progeny surveyed her carefully.

\- "I suppose it would make sense... if you were indeed plain human indeed." He was now looking at her intensely, and her heart skipped a beat.

_Pretend like you don't know where he's getting at_. She cocked her head to the side and carefully raised her right eyebrow.

\- "S'cuse me?" She asked.

\- "I tried to glamour you, but it didn't work. And you move too fast for a human." He said matter-of-factly. Then, in a more threatening tone: "So, what are you?"

Grace inwardly cursed. She should have been expecting the question, really. To be honest, she was surprised that Godric had not asked her until now. She was sure he had tried to glamour her at least once, and must have realized it didn't work on her. So he must have wondered, but since he hadn't asked, she had allowed herself to get comfortable. Comfortable enough to display part of her strength in front of a whole assembly of vampires.

But she should have known that just because _he_ was tactful enough not to address the matter, other vampires wouldn't show that much respect for her privacy. Han's warning came back to her. _Don't mingle with vampires, little one. Some will come for you soon enough, no need to go seeking them out._

She had to throw Eric off her back now, so she forced herself to appear relaxed and rolled her eyes, as if he had just asked her a very stupid question, before speaking.

\- "I move too fast for a human, really? Speed and stamina are characteristics that can be increased beyond imagination with proper training, you know - just watch a Bruce Lee movie if you don't believe me. And for glamouring, I honestly can't tell. But sorry to disappoint you - as far as I know, I am entirely human." Then she recalled Hugo and Sookie's conversation in the crypt. "Did you think I was a telepath, like Sookie?"

At that, his eyes narrowed and he asked her very slowly:

\- "What do you know about Sookie Stackhouse?"

HAH! _Managing to get the conversation away from yourself: check_, Grace thought triumphaly.

\- "Probably less than you do." She shrugged. "You two must know each other quite well, seeing as how she seems to like you and all." She said, remembering Sookie's seething look. But obviously, Eric missed the sarcasm in her voice.

\- "Why, you've noticed that too, haven't you?" He seemed rather pleased with himself. Grace blinked. Could he possibly be so arrogant that he'd think the girl _actually_ liked him?

\- "Oh, yeah, I could totally feel the chemistry." She tried to edge towards the entrance as she talked to him. "You know, that black-haired vampire who was with her - he seems so up-tight and boring! She'll be fed up with him soon." She said, nodding vigorously as if to emphasize her words.

Eric agreed and they kept to this topic until they reached the entrance, and by then Grace was feeling rather smug at having steered the blond vampire away from his initial line of questioning.

\- "Miss Park." He said pleasantly, as she was about to take her leave from him.

\- "Uh?" She replied dumbly.

\- "What are you?" He asked on the same pleasant tone, and the smug feeling vanished. But before she could reply anything, he went on.

\- "Luckily for you, I have business to attend with Godric. But don't fool yourself - this conversation isn't over." He flashed her a dazzling smile which had DANGER written all over it, and turned away from her.

_... Fuck you too, Eric_, she thought. But that made her remember the purpose of her presence tonight.

\- "Hey! I told you, I have business with him too." She called out to him. He stopped in his tracks, and turned back to face her deliberately slowly.

\- "Well, I'm afraid your pathetic human affairs will have to wait." He said, looking at her with supreme disdain, before strolling away again on his long legs.

She glared at his back, before following in his steps. When she caught up with him, he was in the process of kneeling in front of his maker, who was back to sitting in his chair, his hands clasped in his lap, once more gazing in front of him with that vague stare. Grace remained behind, leaning next to the opening in the wall between this room and the main one, so as to allow them some space while remaining in sight to signal her presence to the sheriff.

\- "Hugo's been dispatched. I told him not to stop driving until he reaches the Mexican border." Eric informed the sheriff, who nodded, yet he barely seemed to record the presence of his progeny.

So the sheriff had indeed allowed Hugo to leave unharmed, Grace realized. Well, she hadn't expected anything less from him, she thought with satisfaction.

She noticed that a silence had crept into their conversation, and was about to join in when Eric spoke again.

\- "I have arranged for an AB- human for you. Extremely rare." Given the self-satisfied smile on his face, he was confident that this news would lighten his maker's mood.

Aaaaaaand that was her cue to leave! She pushed herself from the wall, determined to leave the room, since she wasn't too keen on witnessing that. However -

\- "Thank you. But I'm not hungry." The sheriff told his progeny with a small smile that didn't quite reach to his eyes.

Well in this case, Grace thought she might as well go to him now, before he changed his mind. The smile was gone from his face again, and he had that unfocused, bordering on dreamy stare again, which was almost as creepy as his usual blank one.

She was about to make her way to them and tell Eric to sod off - which she felt safe enough to do, now that they were right in front of his maker - so that she could finally talk to Godric, when Eric spoke again.

\- "You'll have to feed eventually." He insisted. "I doubt the Fellowship had anything to offer..." He was now looking up at the sheriff with a smile and a gleam to his eyes that seemed very suggestive - only, Grace couldn't tell exactly _what_ it was supposed to suggest. "Unless..." Eric's gaze had shifted to her, who was still standing a few feet away from them, and his smile grew more pronounced.

She understood that he only meant to scare her, so she simply spared him a look of exasperation, before turning her attention back to the sheriff. But upon seeing his fatigued face, she reluctantly conceded that she had to agree with Eric. If Godric had been taken for two weeks and still hadn't fed, it couldn't be too good for his health.

And he fed on human blood. She might not like it, but there was nothing she could do about it.

And so, she spun on her heels, went back to the main room, and grabbed a couple of full bottles of TB that were standing on the table. Then she made her way back to the room where maker and progeny were gathered, with the very firm intent of force-feeding the sheriff if needed. After all, he wasn't Eric, and she believed he wouldn't hurt her.

But his voice carried out to her before she could enter the room, and what she heard made her freeze in her steps.

\- "... We _are_ frightening. After thousands of years, we haven't evolved. We've only grown more brutal. More predatory." He was stating wearily, pausing after every sentence. "I don't see the danger in treating humans as equals." Another pause. "The Fellowship of the Sun arose because we never did so." He finished. She privately agreed with the words, but something in the way he was saying them made her uneasy.

\- "Is that why you wouldn't fight when they took you?" Eric asked so quietly she barely heard him.

Grace gaped. She had never reflected on how the Fellowship could possibly have taken a 2,000 year old vampire, but now that she did, she realized that Eric had the truth of it. The only way for them to have managed that would have been for Godric not to oppose resistance. She felt slightly annoyed with him for that.

\- "I could have killed them until the last one of them within minutes." He stated quietly. "And then what would that have proven?"

And for the first time since she had met him, she thought he sounded almost desperate. Like someone on the verge of giving up.

Grace leaned her back and rested her head against the wall, just next to the opening that led to their room.

_Sheriff_..., she thought sadly. And for a moment, she simply stood there, her eyes fixed on to the ceiling, her arms limp, a bottle of True Blood dangling from each hand. She watched as Eric left the room and passed her by, his eyes not recording her presence, his shoulders slouching. Her heart sank at the sight.

But then she shook her head. That a progeny would worry sick about his maker was one thing, but it wasn't pity nor concern that the sheriff needed from her.

* * *

Fiiiiu, long chapter! Just to be precise - there will be no Eric/OC, I just love writing his character :p

Thanx so much for the reviews on chapter 6!

FanGirlingCirca92, xSealiee, Xtyne, Royal Ember, Lil Miss Sunshine14, I was so excited when I read your words, and thinking about them keeps me motivated to write. So keep up with the feedback :D

About finding out what she is, I'll drop clues but the full explanation will have to wait ;)


	8. Still vampire

Godric barely registered that his progeny had left the room. The long line in front of him had finally come to an end, and for the first time since he had escaped the basement where the Fellowship had kept him, he was left alone to ponder the recent events.

In all honesty, the ancient vampire had lost his taste for existence decades ago. He had only maintained himself alive out of pure habit, and because he feared what would happen to the humans in his area if he left his position. There was no vampire statute protecting humans at the time, and most sheriffs only cared about regulating inter-vampire relationships.

But things were different now. The authority had outlawed all acts of violence against humans, and any sheriff that replaced him would have to uphold those laws whether he wanted to or not. Which had led him to seriously contemplate leaving this world, and offering himself to the Fellowship had seemed like the perfect way to go. His sacrifice would satisfy their desire for blood, he had thought, and they would be more tolerant towards vampires after that.

His mistake had been to believe that vampires would wish nothing more than to integrate the human world now that they had another source of survival, and that it would be the humans' reaction to the revelation of their existence which would pose problem. How could he have forgotten that the acts of violence perpetrated by his kind were not only related to the need to feed, but originated in the destructive impulses that came with their very nature?

He himself had given into them for so long, he recalled. Memories came to his mind uninvited, and he closed his eyes as if not to see them. He had kept to his savage ways even after it had stopped procuring him any pleasure. He had gone on for a while even after disgust had replaced satisfaction. Because after all, that was all he had ever known and done. At some point, he had learned to control himself. But the impulses had still been there then, allowing him to understand, and therefore anticipate to certain extent the actions of his kind.

In the recent decades, however, they had more or less stopped arising. And because of this he was now losing his touch.

When he had left with the Fellowship, he had made sure that nothing could link his disappearance to them with the very purpose of preventing an attack such as that launched by Stan. But as a vampire, he should have known that the absence of evidence wouldn't bother many of his kind, and shouldn't have put brutal retaliation, however unfounded, above a vampire. And as Stan's direct superior, he ought to have known that he, at least, would react as he had.

How could he be a figure of authority to vampires when he did not even think like them anymore? No, that was just one more reason for him to disappear from this world, he thought, resigned.

But then he was jolted away from his thoughts as someone called out to him from the entrance. He recognized the human detective's voice, and his eyes snapped open. They landed on two glass bottles filled with thick, dark red liquid spinning in the air and towards him. He snatched them from the air just as they were about to make contact, and took a second to appreciate the accuracy of the aim: without his reflexes, they would have been certain to crash right into his face.

Then he realized the bottles were True Blood, and he frowned to himself, wondering what the meaning of this was.

\- "Wah - nice catch!" The young woman exclaimed as she arrived in front of him. "It's like you could _totally_ be a vampire!" She added, her voice exaggeratedly admiring, her eyes shining with good-natured humour.

He did not react to the tentative joke, but that didn't seem to faze her. Her gaze swept over the room before she spotted a chair nearby, and he watched as she went to get it.

\- "I brought those for you to drink, so feel free to knock yourself out." She informed him after she had seated herself next to him, pointing at True Blood in his hands.

His eyes left her and went back to the glass bottles. _A+_, he read on the label. There was very little chance he would "knock himself out" from drinking that blood type, he reflected absent-mindedly.

\- "I appreciate your concern, detective." He told her. Now that he thought about it, he wondered what her reasons for bringing him True Blood might be. "However, as I said earlier, I am not hungry." And when she didn't look convinced: "A vampire my age requires very little blood to survive." He added quietly.

The girl remained silent for a moment. She leaned back in her seat, rested her right elbow on the arm of her chair and her chin on the palm of her hand as she surveyed him with an expression he couldn't read. "You do realize that you're acting a _tad bit_ selfish there, right?" She finally asked, raising her left hand and spreading her index and forefinger by an inch. Before dropping it and sighing heavily upon seeing the look of incomprehension on his face. "I should have thought not."

She shut her eyes closed, and brought fingers to her temples to massage them briefly, as if his lack of understanding was giving her a headache.

\- "You know," she started slowly once she had reopened her eyes, "I understand how it feels to have people nagging you to do something that _they_ believe you need for your health or safety, when _you_ personally know that you really don't need to." She paused and rested her forearms on her thighs, using them as support as she leaned closer to him. "Trust me – I _do_." She emphasized earnestly, and he believed her. After all, the girl seemed to be at the top of her species, just like he was at the top of his. "And from what I've seen, Eric can be annoyingly fussy about you. But right now, you can't say that he doesn't have ground to be worried. Because in all honesty, sheriff - you look appalling. No offense meant." She raised both hands level to her chest, their palm facing him in a soothing gesture, and he couldn't help but smile a fraction.

The girl really had a knack for saying things that no one else – not even his progeny - would have dared utter in his presence. And she was probably right too. He had stopped caring about his appearance a long time ago, but now that she mentioned it, he probably did not look his healthiest. Of course it had nothing to do with hunger, it was only a sign of how weary he was of his existence. But she could not know that – nor could his progeny and nest-mates, and it would be understandable that they would take that as a sign that he needed to feed.

\- "True Blood does not taste too great, I get that." She went on. "But drinking it would only take you about 5 seconds. On the bright side, it would certainly reassure the people who care and worry about you... _And_ prevent me from wondering whether you're not suddenly going to get blood cravings while I am, well, the only natural food source around for you." She said matter-of-factly. "So yes, I think it's fair enough to say that your stubbornness not to drink, however founded, is rather selfish." She finished, and the ancient vampire's stare saddened imperceptibly.

She had subtly, but clearly, just separated herself from those who "cared about him", as she put it. And although reason told him that this was completely understandable – they had only met four times after all, and weren't exactly intimate - a part of him felt slightly wounded.

Even worse was how she was apparently worried that he might turn on her. He hated that she might think she had anything to fear from him. But he could not blame her - not after what his progeny had told her about him. Not only had Eric implied just a moment ago that his maker might want to feed on her, there was everything else he had said to her that night.

Godric had heard Eric ask the young woman what her relationship with him was, and at first he had only inwardly rolled his eyes at that. But then to his irritation, the Viking had rather crudely described his former preferences in front of her. The feeling had only intensified when Eric had told her that the absence of mark on her necks meant she couldn't be his. The girl really did not need to know that many details about his past habits.

By now, he was feeling downright annoyed with his progeny. Godric valued the detective's trust, and he would need to have a serious talk with Eric about not giving her information, or make implications, that might tarnish her opinion of him.

When he spoke, however, he did not voice his thoughts. Nor did he allow them to show.

\- "I would not drink from an unwilling human. Not under _any_ circumstances." He said quietly instead, as he held her stare to emphasize his words.

Amusement danced in her eyes for a second, and he frowned slightly, wondering what had been humouristic in his words.

\- "Well, that certainly is good to know. But there is no need to be so serious, sheriff. I am not really worried - I was only making a point." She replied with a smile, and it felt as if a weight were being taken off his chest. "And in any case, I'd probably taste very plain to you." She shrugged, causing him to raise an eyebrow. Now, where did _that_ come from? She must have seen the interrogation in his eyes, for she spoke again to explain her statement.

\- "Your favourite blood type is AB-, right?" She gazed up at him expectantly, and he gave a small nod. Yet another piece of information his progeny had let out - although this one was relatively harmless, he had to admit. "Well, I'm O-. So you see, not a single little A or B to enjoy." She said with a mock apologetic look.

The old vampire shook his head to himself. _Humans_. He understood her reasoning now, but taste preferences did not actually work like that.

He did enjoy AB most, because the mixture of A and B brought a nice balance between the two flavours. But types A and B alone tasted too strongly, and he much preferred O over those two. Besides, he disliked positive rhesus types - the taste of iron was more pronounced than in negative ones, which gave them a metallic taste that he did not care for. All in all, contrary to what the girl had said, O- was very much to his liking.

Besides, drinking from the source or from a bottle were two very different experiences. In the latter case, blood type was indeed the determining factor. But there were other criteria that needed to be taken into account to assess the pleasure that came from feeding on a human. Such as their smell, and the texture of their flesh.

The girl was not wearing perfume, something he approved of. There was something chemical about perfumes that repulsed him, and make his head ache. Her scent was very flowery, delicate and not too sweet, which he found very pleasant. And the fact that it was fainter than other humans' was tantalizing - it made him want to edge closer to her to better breathe it in. As for her flesh...

Involuntarily, his gaze fell onto her neck. Her hair was tied up in her usual high ponytail, which left her throat exposed. She had a pale, perfectly smooth skin, which looked like it would feel very soft.

And wonderfully tender. It would probably tear under the lightest pressure of his fangs, he reflected somewhat longingly.

Suddenly, he was very much aware of her heartbeat, of the vein pulsing along its rythm on the side of her neck, and of the stream of life running just beneath. The desire to bite her seized him so powerfully and unexpectedly that his fangs all but sprung out.

\- "Still with us, sheriff?" The young woman asked, and he was glad that she didn't sound like she might be aware of his internal turmoil. But he didn't answer - his attention was entirely focused on trying to keep all his teeth to their regular size and inside of his mouth, while not letting anything show.

Damn. He had forgotten how hard - and _painful_ \- containing himself could be. A part of him even marveled that he could still lust for blood when he had been certain all his vampire instincts had died out for good.

\- "Sheriff?" She inquired again and now there was concern in her voice. He took a deep breath in - a pure reflex since he did not have any heartbeat to steady in the first place - and his fingers clenched tighter around the bottles of True Blood that he was still holding in his hands.

\- "Quite all right, thank you." He said in his usual, quiet tone once he had managed to repress his instincts. He forced himself to hold her stare, and she smiled with relief.

Maybe Eric was right, he pondered. Maybe he did need to feed, even if he was not feeling hungry _per se_. In any case, it would certainly help him keep his thoughts from straying into dangerous territories, so he uncorked the first bottle and brought it to his lips. He nearly gagged – he had forgotten just how appalling the synthetical version of A+ tasted.

The girl sat up straighter in her chair, and her eyes didn't leave him as he downed the two bottles.

\- "HAH!" She exclaimed once he was finished, punching the air with her fist victoriously. "I just _can't_ _wait_ to see the expression on Eric's face when he hears that I've managed to make his precious maker feed, when _he_ so lamentably failed to do so." She said with the immensely self-satisfied air of someone who has just triumphed over a long-time rival. "Give the brat a taste of his own uselessness." She added with a smirk as she looked over to where Eric was standing.

The attitude was so childish he normally may have considered it with benevolent indulgence, but would not have graced it with a reaction. Coming from her, however, he found it very amusing, and he couldn't help the smile that stretched his lips.

Besides, she wasn't even wrong. Despite his own advanced age, his child truly was still a brat.

And for some reason, the thought made him laugh.

Slowly, the girl turned to face him again. Her own grin had slipped away from her face, replaced by an expression of utter confusion - one he had never seen on her until now. A small part of him grew concerned, wondering what could have caused the sudden change. But the rest only noticed how cute she looked like that, with her eyes opened wide and her mouth in the shape of a small "o".

To his disappointment, however, she hastily rearranged her features, and she was about to speak when the sound of a heated argument erupting from the main room cut her out. The Stackhouse girl was clearly audible, along with another woman's voice which he had never heard before. The detective looked away from him to the main room and then back at him, as if she expected him to tell her what was going on. But he hadn't been listening to what was happening in his living room, and didn't have any more information than her. But then the sound of something being forcefully thrown down and crashing against glass bottles came to their ears, and she jumped to her feet.

Godric, however, was at the heart of the commotion before she could take more than a few steps, his hand clasped over the throat of the she-vampire responsible for it, effortlessly holding her back from sinking her fangs into the blonde's neck.

This vampire had attacked a human in his own home, which was bad enough. But she had also interrupted his time with the girl, and he felt exasperation threaten to rise in him at that. That was just one too many interruptions.

First, in the sanctuary, there had been that young woman who had claimed the detective for herself. Then, tonight, there had been Isabel bringing in Hugo for him to judge while they were talking, and when he had been done with that, the girl had disappeared from sight. And now, this feral vampire… No, really, he was feeling less than tolerant towards her.

\- "Retract. Your. Fangs." He uttered as clearly and patiently as he could, looking her in the eyes as he refrained the part of him that wanted nothing more than to tighten his fingers around her neck and be done with it.

\- "I neither know, nor care, who you are. But in this area, and certainly in this nest, I'm the authority. Do you understand?" He said slowly, allowing only the slightest hint of menace to creep into his voice.

\- "Yes, sheriff." She answered reluctantly, and it struck him how much she sounded like a female version of Stan. Stan, who couldn't attend the party due to being currently punished for his behaviour on the previous night. Godric was glad that these two couldn't meet. He let go of her and went on.

\- "This human has proven herself to be a loyal and courageous friend to our kind. And yet you treat her like a child does a dragonfly, pulling off wings for sport? No wonder they hate us." He stated somewhat bitterly, his eyes darting over to Eric, who was standing on his left. His progeny had the grace to look down in shame as his eyes met his maker's, and Godric returned his stare to the she-vampire in front of him.

\- "She provoked me." She uttered through gritted teeth.

\- "And _you_ provoked _me_." He countered tersely. "You disrupted the peace in my own home." He leaned closer to her. "I could snap you like a twig. Yet I haven't." He stated. "And why is that?"

\- "It's… your choice." She answered, jaws still clenched. There was so much spite in this one.

\- "Indeed it is." He answered smoothly, before taking a closer look at her. "You're an old vampire, I can tell. You've had hundreds of years to better yourself, yet you haven't. You're still a savage. And I fear for all of us, humans _and_ vampires, if this behaviour persists." He stated, loud enough for his voice to carry to everyone present as his eyes left her to sweep over the deadly quiet assembly.

He allowed for the silence to settle so as to emphasize the solemnness of his words. Then, he addressed the black-haired vampire who was holding onto Miss Stackhouse, asking him to escort that acquaintance of his out of the nest, and ordered her to be out of his area before dawn.

At that, he looked around him, satisfied that he might go back to his discussion with the detective, only to see her animatedly speaking with the blonde human. He stepped closer to them and, upon noticing him, said human beamed.

\- "Thank you so much Mr. Godric! That was very impressive!" She chirped, and he inclined his head in her direction in acknowledgement.

\- "Yes sheriff, that was quite impressive indeed! Just like yesterday in the sanctuary!" The dark-haired girl agreed, and he had the unpleasant feeling that she was being sarcastic. Her smile seemed just a _little_ too wide and her voice just a _little_ too sweet. "You can certainly show vampires how to behave with humans – as long as they are not your progeny." She added, confirming his suspicion. For although the Stackhouse girl did not seem to get the accusing edge in her voice, he did not miss it.

\- "Miss Stackhouse – could I ask you to give us a minute?" He asked the blonde quietly. Her eyes widened slightly but she hastily nodded, before flashing a smile to the detective and departing.

Godric's eyes went to rest on the young woman in front of him.

When he had seen Eric grab her by her jacket, he had immediately risen from his seat to stop whatever he was planning to do with her. But then he had seen the loathing on her face. He had wondered what might have caused her to react with such a fierce feeling, when she had been so patient with that Gabe human at the Fellowship. Godric could remember her allowing the brutish man to fling insults at her that he personally would never have put up with for a good moment while she tried to get him to calm down, before she realized that knocking him out would be the only way.

A second later, however, her expression had turned into one of iron determination, and Godric had thought that maybe – just maybe – even if she was human and Eric was, well, Eric, she might be able to do something against him. He knew he would still have had time to intervene if he was wrong, since he was still much more powerful than his child. But he hadn't been disappointed. Much the contrary, actually.

The three men from their previous encounter had been one thing. Gabe, although a gigantic brute and a practiced fighter, was still human. But a vampire was another thing entirely.

Of course, Godric believed that if Eric had not been so stunned that she had _actually_ attacked him, he would effortlessly have been able to catch her arm before it reached him, and she would never have been able to overpower him. And if the scene had happened anywhere but in his home, Eric would have killed her as soon as he had regained his wits. But the way things had happened, she had actually had the upper hand over his progeny, and that without ambushing him or using a stake, or silver, or any other trick.

And then when she had finished, had been rather amused to hear her fling Eric's words right back at him. The girl had style, he had to admit, and he liked that.

He wanted to tell her that the only reason why he hadn't stopped his progeny was because he believed that taking a beat-down from a human would teach him not to treat them like property _much_ better than a hundredth scolding from himself. He looked into her eyes and was about to do so, when a man's voice resonated throughout the living room.

\- "Excuse me everyone! I'd like to have your attention please."

The exasperation Godric had felt earlier was back, this time mingled with a touch of despair. Was he never going to be able to have more than five minutes of continued conversation with the girl?

\- "Wait - I recognize him…" She whispered, and that made him turn his attention to the speaker. A boy with an overlarge coat – clearly human, he registered.

\- "My name is Luke McDonald, and I'm a member of the Fellowship of the Sun."

Godric frowned to himself. What could anyone from the Fellowship be doing in his home?

\- "I have a message for you all from reverend Steve Newlin." He added, and Godric's confusion increased.

But the detective must have understood something he had not, for the next thing he knew she was yelling for everyone to get down, just as her arm wrapped around his chest, and he was so surprised that he did not even resist as she forced both of them onto the ground.

A split second later, he heard the deafening sound and felt the heat of what he realized was a bomb explosion.

* * *

OK first: I'm soooooo sorry for the late update!

I moved from France to Singapore a few days after I posted the last chapter to start an internship there, and things have been hectic! Packing, travelling, visiting flatshares, moving in, visiting the city, working, socializing... Hectic.

But I am NOT forgetting the story! I'll still try to update as soon as possible, and you have no idea just how much your reviews help (I don't think I'd have updated before another 2 weeks without them) :D Royal Ember, downbelowgirl, Xtyne, Ilovefashion2001, Atlafan1286, VampireElf14: I love you guys ^_^

The next chapter will be the last one dealing with the Dallas arc of the TV Show. I know it was long, but I really wanted to introduce Godric as I believe he might be under the surface, as well as my OC :)


	9. After the bombing

DISCLAIMER

(not really)

Hi everyone!

So - back at last after a 6 month absence :)

I know I wrote that this chapter would be the last one in the Dallas arc. But it became longer than I had initially planned, because there is a character I thought I really should introduce here.

Next chapter will be Godric's POV during the discussion with Nan etc… and I PROMISE the last one before I switch to my own storyline!

* * *

Grace remained stunned for a minute as she laid flat on the ground, her ears whistling from the deafening explosion, her chest aching, her head pounding. Breathing was hard and when she opened her eyes, there was heavy dust drifting across the air, obscuring her vision and making her eyes water. She had to snap them shut again as she coughed.

She pressed a hand against her closed eyelids, and frowned as recollections of what had just happened flashed behind them. That boy whom she'd seen in the sanctuary, almost rooted to the floor as the vampires had swept over he and his companions. His large coat spread tight over his midsection - much too tight for someone his built. His fist, initinally half-covered by his too-long sleeves,visibly holding something as he raised it into the air. And finally, her guts telling her to grab whoever was closest and get to the ground as her sub-consciousness connected the dots.

Grace frowned. She'd been talking to the sheriff…

She dropped her hand and opened her eyes again, this time firmly determined to see what was happening. She looked to her left, and he wasn't there. But at least there was no blood, which would have been the case if the explosion had killed him. And if it had only injured him – well, given his age, he was probably well into the process of recovering by now.

She let out a small sigh in relief. And then felt a slight pressure on her shoulder, as a hand squeezed it gently. She tried to got to her knees to face whoever it was, but each move was painful, and she couldn't hold back a groan. When she finally managed to turn around, she was not surprised to meet the sheriff's now familiar unreadable gaze. His eyes swiftly travelled up and down her figure, obviously checking for potential injuries. She was about to tell him that she was all right, that he could let her go, but she breathed in, she inhaled some of the particles that hadn't settled yet.

She coughed, and her chest burst in pain with each jolt. Fractured rib, she diagnosed inwardly. She felt the sheriff's fingers dig into her shoulder and draw her slightly closer to him, but she shook her head as she extended a hand, pressing it against his chest to steady herself as much as keep the distance between them.

The last thing she wanted right now was to become a source of concern for him, especially after what had just happened. He seemed to worry for quite many things already, and the bombing was very unlikely to remedy this. He really didn't need any more on his plate.

Additionally, she didn't like seing people worry over her. For some reason, it always made her feel uncomfortable.

And so she swallowed to clear her throat, ignoring the throbbing, raised her eyes to his, managed a small smile and her lips parted to allow her to speak – but:

\- "Sheriff?" A woman's voice called out hesitantly from above their head, cutting her off. Grace looked up and saw the woman in black – Isabelle, she recalled - staring at them with a mixture of disbelief and hesitation. At that Grace realized how the scene must look to an outsider. Her cheeks heat up and she hastily retracted her arm. She was about to babble that it wasn't what it looked like, but bit back her words. Experience had taught her that this would only make things look more suspicious. Instead, she decided that it was time for her to get to her feet and leave those two alone. They had vampire business to discuss, and she had to… Well, she…

She frowned. Sookie.

The blonde's image jumped in front of her eyes. She had been standing very close to the entrance… Grace's throat clenched and she meant to get up to look for the girl. But unlike her, the sheriff hadn't dropped his hand, which was gently, yet inexorably, holding her back. She looked at him.

\- "You are injured. You should not be moving." He said reasonably.

\- "It's really nothing serious, sheriff." She said soothingly to shake his concern off. She pushed his hand away, and jumped to her feet. "See?" She exclaimed with only the smallest grimace at the pain caused by the sudden move. She'd suffered worse before, and knew that she'd recover from a superficial bone fracture in no time.

It didn't take her long to spot Sookie. She was kneeling next to Eric, who was lying on his back, and sucking at his chest. SHe couldn't see her face, but he certainly looked like he was greatly enjoying the experience. Grace quickly made her way over to them.

\- "Errr… Sookie – What are you doing?" She asked the blond, who jumped slightly but didn't turn around.

\- "Ugh - helping out Eric." She answered in a clearly disgusted voice. "Some silver got stuck in his wounds so they can't heal, sucking them out is the only way to dislodge them …"

\- "What do you mean they can't heal?" Grace interrupted, trying to recall Han's words on the topic as she massaged her chest absentmindedly. "Silver can weaken vampires, but not prevent them for healing."

\- "But Eric said…" Sookie looked up at Grace in confusion, then down at Eric again.

Grace followed her stare. The giant vampire had his arms under his head, his eyes were closed and satisfaction was written all over his face. Grace suspected it was both satisfaction at having Sookie's lips suck at his chest, and at having managed to trick her into doing this in the first place. She was about to say that Eric had lied, but the othergirl seemed to have already reached that conclusion.

\- "You big liar!" She yelled, stomping her fist against his chest, only to make his grin widen. "You big fat LIAR!" She yelled again, this time jumping to her feet. "Bill!" She called out to the dark-haired vampire from before, who was returning from having escorted the she-vampire out, and running into his arms. She explained what Eric had done, and the dark-haired shot Eric a look of pure spite. Not that the latter seemed to care. The tall vampire deliberately slowly rose from the ground, watching Bill and Sookie walk away before turning to Grace.

\- "Where is Godric?" Were Eric's first word to her. She looked over the spot where he had been talking to Isabel, but it was empty.

\- "I don't know," she answered with a shrug as she turned back to the giant. "By the way - I'm doing just fine, thanx for asking." She said with just a trace of sarcasm before turning away from him, not wanting to see his self-centred face any longer. He had just tricked a naïve human into drinking his blood, which meant that he would always be able to tell where she was, and sense her fiercest emotions. Not to mention the erotic visions she'd most likely have of him. Of course it may seem like there were worst things in life, but to Grace it was very similar to mind-raping.

She walked away without looking, and trod on something soft. Looking down, she saw an arm. Not attached to a body.

... Fuck, she thought in disgust. She averted her eyes, but now that she only had her surroundings to focus on, she saw devastation everywhere they landed on. The dust had finally settled, and the sight was horrendous.

Limbs and unidentifiable bloody body parts, scattered across the room. Ponds of blood. Severly wounded people moaning in pain. Cries of anguish.

Grace closed her eyes. She had always thought that watching the news on TV and action movies would have prepared her for that kind of secenery – but no. And when she took a deep breath through the nose to calm herself down, she realized that there was one thing that could not be captured by filming. Or shut out by closing your eyes.

Scent. The air smelled like burnt, burnt, burnt.

Burnt fabric. Burnt material. And worst of all - burnt flesh.

Suddenly, she was feeling nauseous. Badly. She had to get out of there.

Grace balled a hand and into a fist and pressed it against the wall. Using it as support, she made her way to the entrance as steadily as she could, not noticing the pair of clear eyes that followed her out..

The moment she had stepped into the garden, she fell on her knees and started retching. Maybe having come here on an empty stomach hadn't been such a bad idea, because at least, nothing was coming out.

See, the situation could have been much worse, she told herself sarcastically. You could have been puking your guts out on the sheriff's front yard right now.

\- "What are you doing?" A familiar voice soon asked above her in a slightly curious tone, and Grace shut her eyes in exasperation.

Scratch her previous thoughts. The situation could NOT have been worse.

\- "Bein' sick." She mumbled. That was all she could manage.

\- "… Sick?" Eric repeated sceptically. Then another spasm overcame her, and he seemed to understand her condition. "UGH! Ugh – seriously, humans…" His voice was half annoyed, half disgusted, but he didn't move away from her.

She wanted to retort that she certainly wasn't holding him back and would be more than happy to see him leave, only she didn't trust herself enough to open her mouth and utter such a long sentence.

\- " 'tcha dun' here?" She asked through gritted teeth instead.

\- "Godric ordered me to find you and bring you to him." He informed her rather shortly, and she cursed inwardly. Meeting the sheriff in her current state was not exactly what she wished for most right now.

\- "Why?" She inquired.

\- "I don't question Godric's motives." Eric answered delicately.

Grace almost snorted at that. From what she had seen of their interaction, Eric did question Godric's motives a lot – but the latter's answers seemed to be rather cryptic. When not simply inexistent.

\- "You mean you asked but he didn't reply." She uttered painfully. Keeping her face to the ground, she straightened her back, and rubbed her hands on her jeans to clean the dirt and grass from them.

\- "I'm sorry, I didn't quite hear you, doll girl – what did you just say?" She looked up at him to see his face slightly turned to the side, his ear exageratedly extended in her direction, one hand cupped behind it.

\- "Nothing." She muttered. Given his vampire sense of hearing she was pretty sure he had understood her alright, but preferred not to try her luck in Godric's absence. "Where is he?"

\- "Carmilla hotel. Godric's called a council there, to try and prevent the vampires to retaliate against the Fellowship." Grace frowned, before remembering that the bomber had actually introduced himself as a member of the sect. Seemed like the right thing to do, she thought, but from his expression and tone of voice, it was clear that Eric would disagree.

\- "Anyways." He shrugged. "Let's go." He snapped.

Grace pondered that. She wanted to know what was going to happen next, and going to the Carmilla would be the best way to be kept in the loop. She could tend to her injured rib later.

\- "Gimme a minute. I'll get my car. Join you there". She said briefly as she slowly tried to get to her feet, not looking at him.

\- "I don't think so, no." He said firmly, landing a heavy hand on her shoulder and jerking her to her feet. "He told me to bring you back safe to the hotel. So you're coming with me." He went on, supremely ignoring her yelp of pain.

\- "Trust me, I'm no more happy with this than you are. So let's make this as short as possible."

For a brief moment she wondered whether he was going to carry her there and was about to protest – as much for his sake as for hers, really – but he only held out a hand to her. She raised a questioning eyebrow.

\- "Keys?" He clarified with a roll of his eyes and the air of someone explaining the obvious to a dim-wit. She retrieved her car keys from her jacket angrily, but silently. Before she could lay them in his outstretched plam, he snatched them from her hand, pushed the remote-opening button, swished towards the vehicle which had bipped, and a couple of seconds later had settled himself in the driver's seat. Grace just stood there for a moment, but then the window was down and an arm was stuck out, waiving energetically at her. She shook her head, and made her way to the car. As she slouched into the passenger's seat, she noticed how ridiculous the tall vampire looked in there. Her car was a very small model, the seat much too close to the wheel and the top too low for a man his size.

She smirked. His awkwardness was a small comfort, but a comfort still.

\- "Couldn't have bought a pick-up like the regular American, could you." He rhetorically asked through gritted teeth, as he adjusted the seat as best as he could and started the engine. She ignored the comment, and smirked on.

They drove in silence for the rest of the trip, and although she caught him staring at her in the mirror from the corner of her eye, she didn't return any of his glances.

When they finally arrived at the hotel, Eric walked out of the car and into the lobby, only to vanish from sight the moment after. Leaving her awkwardly standing alone in the hall. With the flow of people rushing in and out, however, no one paid her the slightest attention, which suited her just fine.

The reception was in an uproar. The staff all seemed busy giving directions to the medics, answering phones that kept ringing, and trying to calm down people. Grace leaned on the counter and waited.

\- "How can I help you miss?" A woman asked hurriedly as she finally hung up the phone she'd been holding with one hand, while furiously scribbling with the other one. She looked very young, and panicked. Grace's eyes skidded to her badge, which read "In training". She felt sorry for the girl. Bad night to be new in the Carmilla hotel.

Grace asked to be led to the sheriff, and the girl just stared, her eyes widening slightly with incomprehension. However, before Grace could ask to speak with a more senior member of the staff, the trainee was being pushed away by an older woman, who looked much more in control of her nerves. She asked for Grace's name calmly, and after typing God knows what on her computer, nodded to herself before looking up at Grace again to ask for proof of ID. Grace plunged a hand inside the inner pocket of her jacket, where she had put her badge and driver's licence. Only to grasp at emptiness. She tried all other pockets: nothing. They must have dropped during the explosion, and she wasn't carrying any other kind of papers.

\- "I'm afraid I can't let you in, then." The receptionist said without batting an eye, and Grace knew that there would be very little point in arguing. Given the events of the evening, very tight security instructions must have been given.

Instead, she resolved to wait until he went out. She took advantage of the waiting time to go to the bathroom, and grimaced as she caught her reflection in the glass.

She was covered in dust, dirt, and blood, although she knew it wasn't hers. Her clothes were slightly singed, her jacket mostly she noticed with a pang of sadness. It had been Han's present for her 21st birthday. He hadn't elaborated on the material, but had told her that it would make for a very good protection. So she had taken to wear it even on hot days, and it made her feel safer. Rightly so, she thought, looking at its back in the mirror. It was completely burnt out, probably from the heat wave of the explosion. She preferred not to think about what would have happened if she hadn't been carrying it. She wouldn't be able to wear it again, now, she realized with a small sigh. But then images from the sheriff's living room came back to her mind, and she chided herself for the materialistic thought. It was only a jacket, nothing compared to what had been lost that night.

Grace lifted her eyes to look at her her face. She was very white, even more so than usual, and the stark contrast with the black singes and maroon-ish drying blood on her clothes made her look somewhat ghostly.

She washed her hands and face, went back into the hall, sank in a nearby couch, closed her eyes and started massaging her temples. After a while, she felt a presence hovering above her. Sure enough, when she opened her eyes, a figure was looming over her.

Not the one she expected though – not by a long shot.

For a couple of seconds she just sat there, gaping slightly, but then she jumped to her feet.

-" Han! What…?" She stared in Korean, the language she always spoke with him. And which came to her naturally when she was feeling particularly emotional.

-"Am I doing here?" He finished for her in the same language. His arms were crossed over his chest, and she supposed some would have shrunk under the icy look he was giving her. But she knew this was his own way to express concern, and felt a pang of guilt. Of course, he was here because of her. He must have felt the flicker of fear that had sized her for a split second before the explosion. Fear was not something she usually allowed to flow into their bond, and he must have ticked at that.

\- "What happened, Grace?" He continued, frowning as he took in her pitiful state. She told him quickly about the explosion at the sheriff's place, and his frown deepened.

\- "Why were you there?" He asked, slowly unfolding his arms to land his hands on his hips.

Ah, she thought. This was where she was getting in trouble for not abiding to her mentor's #1 Rule of Safety, aka the Do-Not-Get-Involved-With-Vampires (As-Long-As-You-Can-Avoid-It) Law.

\- "It's complicated." She stalled. "Listen, you should go." She raised her hands to his chest, trying to push him away from her and back towards the entrance door. "The place is swamped with vampires and –" But he just caught both of her hands in one of his and held them in front of her.

\- "I saw. Which is why we are both going." He said as he started steering her towards the door. "Besides, I have pressing matters to discuss with you."

\- "Han… You go. I'm all right, and I have something to do here." She said firmly, albeit apologetically, as she refused to follow in his steps. She didn't like opposing him, but he didn't know what he was talking about. As for whatever pressing matters he was referring to, there was little chance they could be as pressing as a vampire- and human- killing suicide bombing in one of Texas' most important city's sheriff's home.

He looked into her eyes for a couple of seconds, and she held his stare. Something she didn't usually do with him.

\- "I see." He said finally. "In this case, I will be waiting for you here." He released her hands, and she knew she wouldn't be able to make him budge. A tiny part of her was actually selfishly satisfied that his will to protect her was stronger than that to avoid his kind. After all, Han was the only being she had ever met who was stronger than her. Until the sheriff, that was. In any case, he had taken care of her, and he was the only one in whose presence she felt safer than on her own.

Not that she would ever admit it to his face.

But then a not-so-discreet cough was heard on her left, bursting her fragile bubble of peacefulness.

\- "Eric." Grace acknowledged before even looking at him. "Where is Sheriff Godric?"

\- "Busy" was the blonde's concise answer. "Who's this fucker?" He asked darkly, jerking his head towards Han. To the point, she thought. Eric was very obviously not in a happy mood. She shrugged off his question with a dismissive "Just a friend" as Han's hand landed softly, yet unmistakably possessively, on her shoulder.

Eric's eyebrows rose by a fraction as he inspected the object of his interrogation.

\- "Where is Godric?" she asked again before he could inquire further.

\- "You know, doll" he said after a short while as his eyes settled on her once more, "If you had been so keen on being kept up to date you could have joined us instead of engaging in idle chat with friends". He sounded pissed, and emphasized the word as if to imply he very much doubted that friendship was the actual nature of their relationship. But the slightly distant look in his eyes told her it didn't really have anything to do with Han, and that he was only venting his anger on her. Must have been something that had happened in there, then.

\- "I lost my ID at the sheriff's place, couldn't get in." She countered. It was a bit rich from him, too – he was the one who had just left her standing there without so much as a beginning of explanation of what to do. But she kept that for herself. "So – where is he?" she urged him on instead. Eric shrugged his broad shoulders.

\- "Discussing vampire matters over the phone with the authority." His expression darkened even more, and he all but spit the last word. He obviously did not bear any love for the authority, of which Grace only knew that they were a kind of vampire government. "But this is none of your human business. Godric only asked me to tell you that he had booked a room for you." Eric paused there. "A single room, I would assume" he said, jabbing a thumb in Han's direction, and she rolled her eyes. "I'll go get the keys for you, and then we're done here." He started striding towards the reception, but Han spoke for the first time since Eric had interrupted them.

\- "This won't be necessary." A pause. "I will be taking her home." He said coolly. Eric stopped in his tracks and slowly turned back.

\- "Godric wants her to stay there tonight. Which means that she's staying here tonight." He said in a delicate tone which was rather contradicted by a dangerous smile.

\- "Grace needs rest." Han replied in the same voice.

Grace brought fingertips to her brow as she dropped her head and scrunched up her eyes. It was just what she needed, being caught up in a battle of egos. For a moment she vaguely considered snapping at them both for not so much asking her opinion, which was definitely what her cousin Hye Na and probably what her new friend Sookie would have done. But she figured that lowering the tension between those two was probably more urgent that standing up for human rights right now.

\- "She's not at this Godric's disposal." Han added with a hint of disdain before she could say anything.

Uh-oh.

Grace dropped her hand to look up at Eric, fearing that he may have interpreted that as a mark of disrespect towards his beloved maker.

And indeed, Eric's smile had frozen on his face, and there was a gleam she didn't quite like in his eyes.

\- "Sorry – say that again?" He was now edging towards her Sabom-nim in a deliberately slow, yet menacing pace.

\- "Eric, listen…" She started soothingly as she stepped between them, only to be sept away carelessly. The back of his hand caught her right on her injured rib, and crippling pain burst in her chest.

In his anger, Eric had used much more strength than necessary, and the blow sent her flying a couple of feet away as the wind was knocked off her lungs. The back of her head hit the wall forcefully, and a thousand tiny lights erupted in front of her eyes as she felt someone slid an arm around her waist and a shoulder under her armpits, keeping her from sliding onto the ground.

"Little one." Han's voice whispered into her ear as he held her. Grace took a breath in, and grimaced as her fingers clenched on the arm that was still supporting her firmly. But she shook her head to signal that she would not be needing his blood.

She was about to speak when a clear voice rang from across the hall.

* * *

Aaaaaand - one more chapter!

At some point I reallly wondered whether I would find the time to write it.

But whenever I get an alert telling me that someone just reviewed or favourited or is following the story, that keeps me reaaaally motivated so continue to do so and I'll definitely keep on updating :) (yep because I have quite a lof of ideas for this story)


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